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L.   W.   KLINKER 


British  Copyrights  Secured 

ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I  The  End  of  the  Beginning 1 

II  Around    the    Campfire 17 

III  Shall   It   Be   Crime   or  Justice? 31 

IV  Setting  the   Net   for   Suckers 35 

V  Captured   by   the    Enemy 57 

VI  A  Scrap  for  the   Claims 75 

VII  The    Fight    for    Liberty 95 

VIII  Looking   for    Big   Game 102 

IX  Doings   at   the    New   Camp 114 

X  The    Great   New   Plan 122 

XI  Making  a  Water   Haul 135 

XII  Dividing    the    Spoils 147 

XIII  The   Lull  Before  the   Storm 172 

XIV  The    Flash    of   Lightning 186 

XV  The  Return  of  the  Spies 201 

XVI  Sunshine  After  the  Storm 213 

XVII  When   I   am  Through   College 229 

XVIII  Letting  the  Cat  Out  of  the  Bag 240 

XIX  The   Meeting  of  the   Giants 252 

XX  Throwing   a    Ringer 265 

XXI  Making   a    Cleanup 277 

XXII  Putting  Up  the  Bars 288 

XXIII  Preparing  the  Forts  for  the  Attack 310 

XXIV  Love   Is   No  Respecter  of   Persons 333 

XXV  Clearing   for   Action 348 

XXVI  Bombarding  the  Fortifications 363 

XXVII  Have  We  Saved  Her  Life? 385 

XXVIII  Shooting   at    a    Scarecrow 393 

XXIX  Defeated  in  the  First  Skirmish 406 

XXX  Overcoming    Difficulties    Victoriously 423 

XXXI  Eating  the  Bitter  Fruits  with  the  Sweet 436 

XXXII  How   the   Plan   Worked 469 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

"Lew  or  Jim?" Frontispiece 

"We  Found  it  in  the  Sand  by  the  Roots  of  a  Big  Tree  at  Gold  Run"     51 

"The  Picture  of  the  Gold  was  Taken  with  the  Three  Children  Who 

Found  it"   151 

"A  Photograph  Fell  Out  and  Picking  it  Up  He  Saw  that  it  was  a 

Late  One  of  James  Randall" 273 

"Here  on  the  Right,  Mr.  Roe,"  said  Lew,  "is  Sproulville" 461 


INTRODUCTION 

In  giving  to  the  public  this  story  of  "WINNING  A  FOR 
TUNE,"  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  make  any  effort  at  literary 
display,  but  rather  to  give  a  treatise  of  interesting  facts, 
combined  with  fiction  and  romance,  which  I  hope  will  furnish 
the  reading  public  with  something  useful  as  well  as  enter 
taining. 

To  make  money  and  to  win  fortunes  quickly  has  a  great 
fascination  for  people  in  general.  Much  has  been  accom 
plished  along  that  line  in  mining,  and  in  this  day  it  is  about 
the  only  field  left  open  for  the  realization  of  such  ambitions. 
I  have  endeavored  to  render  stale  facts  interesting  and  to 
impart  a  knowledge  of  the  mining  world  in  order  to  show 
that  there  are  great  possibilities  in  that  field  yet,  under  the 
proper  safeguards. 

Some  promoters  and  unscrupulous  persons,  knowing  the 
ambitions  of  the  general  public  along  this  line,  have  taken 
advantage  of  them  and  defrauded  many  in  fake  schemes  of 
various  kinds.  It  is  my  purpose  to  present  the  workings  of 
corporations  and  of  mines  in  story  form,  yet  upon  the  exact 
lines  of  the  various  schemes  of  the  day  and  in  such  a  way 
that  the  investing  and  speculating  public  will  know  better 
how  to  safeguard  their  savings  and  to  speculate  with  greater 
possibilities  of  success. 

The  names  of  persons  and  companies  which  I  have  used 
are  all  fictitious,  but  the  names  of  the  gravel  mines  are  real. 
Likewise,  the  amount  of  gold  produced  from  them  and  the 
estimated  values  yet  remaining  are  mostly  correct.  I  have 
chosen  this  district  because  I  am  well  acquainted  with  it  and 
with  mining  in  that  section.  I  write  it  from  personal  knowl 
edge  as  I  remember  it,  but  have  received  some  help  from 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 


Professional  Paper  No.  73,  by  Waldemer  Lindgren,  in  his 
treatise  of  "The  Tertiary  Gravels  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  in 
California,"  for  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  and  have  quoted 
from  him  once  or  twice. 

The  crossing  of  the  plains  in  wagons  and  under  difficulties 
in  the  early  days;  the  making  of  great  fortunes  in  placer  and 
hydraulic  mining;  the  stopping  of  hydraulic  mining  by  the 
courts  and  the  building  of  the  railroad  are  all  facts ;  and  while 
they  covered  a  long  period  of  years,  yet  I  have  used  them  as 
though  they  were  linked  closely  together  for  the  convenience 
of  my  story. 

The  plan  I  present  for  the  redemption  of  the  swamp 
lands  and  for  the  resumption  of  hydraulic  mining  is  my  own, 
and  is,  I  believe,  quite  possible.  It  only  awaits  the  coming 
of  some  Lew  Manning  to  make  it  a  reality. 

To  fully  appreciate  the  story,  one  should  not  fail  to  read 
it  all,  for  the  best  part  is  in  the  latter  half  of  the  book.  To 
lead  up  to  it,  the  facts  about  mining  must  be  given,  but  there 
is  little  of  that  in  the  latter  part.  Upon  careful  reading  I 
think  you  will  find  it  all  interesting  and  instructive. 

L.  W.  KLINKER, 

The  Author. 
August  2,  1915, 
No.  923  Trolo  St.,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


WINNING  A   FORTUNE 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 

"Oh,  daddy,  do  come  up  here  to  the  top  of  this  big  hill 
and  see  what  that  terrible  noise  is  in  the  hills,  way  across  the 
valley  below,"  said  Lew  Manning,  a  boy  of  fifteen  summers, 
to  his  father,  a  Missouri  farmer,  educated  for  professional 
work  but  following  the  former  by  choice.  He  was  busy 
feeding  and  harnessing  his  horses  for  another  day's  journey, 
while  the  boy's  mother  was  preparing  the  breakfast  over  a 
slow,  smoking  camp  fire.  It  was  in  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains,  along  the  old  trail  leading  from  Reno,  Nevada, 
to  Sacramento,  California. 

"What  kind  of  a  noise  is  it,  Lew  ?"  asked  Henry  Manning, 
his  father,  who  was  captain  of  a  long  train  of  emigrants 
on  their  way  from  the  middle  states  to  California  to  dig 
gold.  The  railroads  had  not  been  built  then,  and  the  only 
way  of  traveling  was  by  wagons  drawn  by  horses  or  oxen. 
Having  been  on  the  road  for  months  and  having  encountered 
many  bands  of  Indians  and  wild  animals,  had  taught  Mr. 
Manning  to  be  upon  the  alert  and  he  was  ever  watching 
for  approaching  danger.  This  sudden  news  coming  from 
his  son,  whom  he  had  sent  out  to  reconnoiter  while  he  was 
busy  himself  with  other  affairs  pertaining  to  an  early  start, 
caused  him  to  think  that  it  might  be  another  band  of  Indians 
making  a  raid  upon  some  train  of  emigrants  ahead  of  them. 

"I  can't  tell  exactly,"  said  Lew,  panting  and  gasping  for 
breath,  having  run  all  the  way  down  the  side  of  the  small 
mountain  where  he  and  his  brother  Robert,  some  two  years 

1 


2 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

his  junior,  had  climbed  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  country 
and  their  surroundings,  "but  it  looks  like  tents  or  covered 
wagons  and  there  is  an  awful  roar,  so  we  thought  it  might 
be  the  Indians  attacking  some  campers  ahead  of  us.  Can't 
we  do  something  to  .help  them,  daddy?" 

"Where  is  Bobby?"  asked  the  father,  seeing  that  Lew 
had  returned  alone  and  was  much  excited,  at  the  same  time 
grabbing  up  his  rifle  and  slinging  his  powder  horn  over  his 
shoulder. 

"Oh,  I  left  him  up  there  on  the  hill  to  watch  while  I  came 
to  tell  you  and  get  my  gun.  I'm  going  right  back,"  and  he 
picked  up  his  rifle  quickly,  to  return  at  once. 

"My  heavens,  child,  you  ought  never  to  have  left  him 
up  there  alone  in  these  mountains  so  full  of  Indians  and  wild 
animals.  Show  me  where  he  is,"  said  the  father.  "Mother, 
get  things  ready  and  warn  the  men  to  be  ready  if  I  need 
them,  for  the  Indians  may  be  upon  us  the  first  thing  we 
know.  I  will  run  up  the  hill  and  get  the  boy  and  see  what 
the  excitement  is  all  about." 

So  with  gun  in  hand  and  old  Rover,  his  faithful  watch 
dog,  which  had  been  with  them  all  the  way  across  the  plains 
from  Kansas  City,  at  his  side,  Lew  led  the  way  towards 
the  spot,  where  a  few  moments  before  he  had  left  his  younger 
brother.  They  had  not  gone  far  when  Rover  began  to  sniff 
and  growl,  and  his  hair  bristled  up  along  his  back,  indicating 
that  he  was  either  badly  frightened  or  knew  that  great  danger 
was  lurking  in  their  path.  Then  he  crouched  low  and  refused 
to  bark,  as  was  his  custom  when  anything  strange  attracted 
his  attention. 

"Good  gracious,  Lew,  something  is  wrong  here.  I  am 
sorry  that  you  left  Bobbie  up  here  alone.  Are  you  sure 
that  this  is  the  right  trail?"  he  said  nervously. 

"Sure,  daddy,  and  right  behind  that  large  clump  of  trees 
and  sage  brush  is  where  I  left  him,"  said  Lew,  noticing  that 


both  his  father  and  the  dog  were  unusually  nervous.  Just 
then  old  Rover,  with  his  keen  scent  of  smell,  growled,  tucked 
his  tail  under  him  and,  trembling  like  a  leaf,  started  back 
to  camp ;  but  looking  up  suddenly  at  his  master,  who  spoke 
firmly  to  him,  Ke  whined  in  a  begging  manner  as  if  to  say: 
"There  is  danger  here;  you  come,  too." 

"Come  here,  Rover !  You  stay  right  by  my  side !"  he 
commanded  in  a  sharp,  low  tone;  then  turning  to  his  son 
said :  "Lew,  have  you  your  gun  loaded  and  a  cap  on  ?  Get 
ready  and  keep  your  head,  no  matter  what  comes  up.  We 
must  be  prepared  for  anything  that  might  happen.  If  it 
becomes  necessary  to  shoot,  take  good  aim,  for  a  poor  shot 
may  mean  death  to  both  of  us  and  Bobbie,  too,"  at  the  same 
time  examining  his  own  gun. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you,  daddy?"  said  the  boy  in 
astonishment  at  his  actions  and  that  of  the  dog,  "there  is 
nothing  up  here  to  be  afraid  of.  I  was  just  up  here.  See, 
right  there  in  the  sand  are  my  tracks  where  I  came  down 
not  five  minutes  ago,  and  the  noise  I  heard  must  have  been 
a  mile  or  two  beyond  the  hill.  The  Indians  could  not  be 
upon  us  so  soon." 

"Now,  look  here,  Lew,"  said  the  father  sharply,  for  he 
was  trembling  with  fear  that  all  was  not  well  with  the  younger 
boy.  "You  are  only  a  boy,  yet  you  have  been  out  on  this 
trip  for  the  last  six  months  and  ought  to  know  enough  by 
this  time  to  know  that  that  dog  would  not  act  that  way  unless 
there  was  something  very  strange  to  him  here.  I  wish  we 
had  brought  some  of  the  other  men  with  us." 

He  stood  quiet  for  a  moment,  listening  for  any  noise  that 
might  enlighten  him  as  to  the  dog's  actions.  He  was  about 
to  send  Lew  back  to  the  camp  for  help,  but  heard  nothing, 
and  thinking  only  of  the  boy  left  alone  up  on  the  mountain 
and  that  a  moment's  delay  might  be  too  late  to  rescue  him, 
he  straightened  up  and  said : 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


"Come,  Lew,  we  must  'hurry  and  find  Bobbie." 

Just  then  they  rounded  the  heavy  clump  of  timber,  for 
the  Sierra  Nevadas  were  covered  with  heavy  timber  and 
brush,  with  only  trails  here  and  there  to  lead  the  way  in 
most  places.  As  they  rounded  this  place,  the  top  of  the  hill 
was  plainly  visible  and  Lew  exclaimed : 

"There,  daddy,  right  up  there,"  pointing  with  his  finger 
to  the  top  of  the  hill,  "and  there  is  Bobbie  sitting  on  that 
big  rock  where  I  left  him.  He  is  all  right." 

"Stop,  my  son !  Get  your  gun  ready,  .quick !"  commanded 
the  elder  Manning,  and  turning  pale  as  death,  he  reeled  as 
though  he  would  fall  to  the  ground. 

"What  is  the  matter,  daddy?  Are  you  going  crazy?"  for 
he  saw  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary,  but  old  Rover,  growling, 
took  to  the  back  trail  for  the  camp  as  fast  as  he  could  go, 
disregarding  the  orders  of  his  master. 

"Look,  look !"  cried  the  father,  "See  that  big  mountain 
lioness  creeping  up  on  Bobbie?  Oh,  my  God,  she  is  about 
ready  to  spring  upon  him.  Oh,  he's  a  gonner,"  and  he 
dropped  to  his  knees  and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands, 
so  as  not  to  see  the  fatal  leap.  He  had  forgotten  his  gun 
and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  use  it  in  the  rescue  of  his  son. 
The  boy  was  sitting  there  upon  the  rock,  looking  steadily 
down  the  canyon  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  unaware 
of  his  danger,  or  of  the  approach  of  his  father  and  brother. 

The  mountains  of  the  West  have  a  great  many  kinds  of 
wild  animals,  and  the  one  most  dreaded  is  the  mountain  lion, 
which  is  about  the  size  of  a  good  big  farm  dog,  but  in 
strength  and  viciousness  several  times  his  superior.  These 
animals  are  cautious,  stealthy  and  usually  keep  well  out  of 
sight  of  human  beings.  They  will  not  attack  a  man  unless 
in  self  defense,  or  because  they  are  very  hungry,  or  in  defense 
of  their  young.  Their  principal  food  is  secured  by  preying 
upon  wild  horses,  deer,  etc.  They  are  different  from  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


African  lion,  in  that  they  are  not  so  large  nor  vicious  and 
are  easily  killed  with  a  well  directed  shot. 

"Heavens,  father,  this  is  no  time  to  get  scared.  Have 
you  lost  your  nerve?"  Then  a  shot  rang  out  from  Lew's 
rifle.  There  was  not  a  particle  of  nervousness  or  excitement 
about  the  boy.  Though  only  fifteen,  his  aim  was  more  perfect 
than  that  of  most  older  men.  As  he  shot,  the  monstrous 
beast,  which  was  almost  within  springing  distance  of  the 
child,  jumped  high  into  the  air,  gave  an  uncanny  roar  and 
came  rolling  down  the  side  of  the  mountain,  almost  to  the 
place  where  they  stood,  striking  with  her  great  paws  as  her 
last  breath  went  out. 

The  roar  of  the  lioness  and  the  crack  of  the  gun  had  so 
startled  Bobbie  that  he  fell  off  the  rock  and  skinned  his  face. 
His  nose  was  bleeding  and  he  was  so  frightened  that  alto 
gether  one  would  have  thought  the  lioness  had  reached  him 
before  the  fatal  shot. 

"Thank  God,  Lew,  you  have  saved  the  life  of  our  little 
Bobbie,"  cried  the  father,  and,  his  nerves  relaxing,  he  sank 
in  a  heap  upon  the  ground. 

Just  then  a  loud  roar  in  the  brush  told  them  that  the 
lioness  had  a  mate,  which  had  heard  the  death  cry  of  its  com 
panion  and  was  coming  to  her  rescue. 

"Come  on,"  said  the  father,  "get  Bobbie  quick  and  let's 
get  out  of  here,  for  there  is  another  one  in  the  brush." 

"Here,  daddy,  give  me  your  gun  and  if  you  can't  shoot, 
load  mine,"  and  the  boy  grabbed  up  his  father's  rifle,  which 
was  lying  on  the  ground.  His  father  drew  a  charge  of  pow 
der  from  the  horn,  but  his  nervous  hand  spilled  it  on  the 
ground.  Before  Lew  could  help  him  in  loading  it,  the 
younger  son  came  running  down  the  hill  to  them,  crying  at 
the  top  of  his  voice  and  at  the  same  time  the  male  lion  came 
tearing  out  of  the  brush  directly  towards  them.  He  halted 
suddenly  as  he  came  to  the  carcass  of  his  dead  mate.  Bang! 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


rang  out  another  shot  from  the  gun  at  Lew's  shoulder,  and 
another  lion  dropped  in  a  heap  by  the  side  of  the  first.  Lew, 
not  knowing  whether  the  monster  was  dead  or  not,  or  whether 
there  were  others  in  the  near  vicinity,  picked  up  his  own 
gun,  tilted  the  powder  horn  and  emptied  a  charge  of  powder 
into  it  and  a  like  amount  into  his  father's  gun.  Then  from 
his  vest  pocket  he  took  a  piece  of  cotton  flannel  about  an 
inch  square  and  wrapped  it  around  a  lead  bullet  and  with  a 
ramrod  quickly  sent  a  ball  down  the  barrel  of  his  own  gun 
and  then  of  the  other,  for  in  that  day  all  guns  were  loaded 
with  powder  and  ball  from  the  muzzle,  while  a  percussion 
cap  was  placed  upon  a  tube  under  the  hammer.  Then  out 
came  the  cap  box  and  as  the  last  cap  was  being  placed  in 
the  second  rifle,  the  lion  raised  his  head  and  began  to  crawl 
toward  them.  The  shot  had  missed  the  animal's  heart  and 
only  broken  his  back.  It  had  rendered  the  latter  half  of  his 
back  useless,  but  it  was  evident  from  the  roar  and  the  sound 
of  his  gnashing  teeth  that  there  was  considerable  fight  left 
in  him  yet. 

By  this  time  little  Bobbie  had  reached  them  and  his  father 
in  his  excitement  and  anxiety  over  him  had  rushed  to  him 
and  caught  him  in  his  arms.  Just  as  Lew  finished  loading 
the  second  rifle  he  saw  three  cub  lions,  almost  full  grown, 
come  out  of  the  brush  and  start  down  the  trail  in  their 
direction. 

"Here,  daddy,  quick,"  cried  Lew,  "put  Bobbie  down  and 
take  your  rifle.  Get  your  nerves  together  now,  the  battle  is 
not  over  yet  and  I  need  you.  Your  gun  is  loaded  and  ready. 
If  those  little  devils  put  up  a  fight  we'll  have  our  hands  full. 
Call  Rover  and  see  if  you  can  raise  anyone  from  the  camp 
with  your  danger  whistle.  I  can  get  two  of  the  lions,  but 
how  we  can  take  care  of  four  with  only  two  guns  is  going 
to  be  a  serious  proposition." 

By  this  time  the  father  was  himself  again,  and  jerking 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


a  whistle  from  his  pocket,  he  blew  two  short  blasts  and  one 
long,  shrill  blast,  which  was  at  once  answered  from  some  one 
of  the  men  in  camp  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  To  gain  time, 
Lew  and  his  father  began  to  back  off  from  the  approaching 
lion  as  he  crawled  rapidly  toward  them.  The  three  cubs 
stopped  at  the  side  of  their  dead  mother,  and  as  they  smelled 
the  blood  from  her  wound  they  put  up  a  cry  almost  human. 

The  father  and  the  two  boys  were  breathless  as  they 
watched  every  move  and  sound  made  by  the  wounded  lion 
as  he  came  nearer.  Fearing  lest  he  would  gain  his  feet  and 
spring  on  them,  Lew  decided  that  it  was  best  to  take  no 
chances  and  with  a  well  directed  shot  put  a  bullet  through 
his  head  between  the  eyes.  The  boy  then  began  to  reload 
his  gun,  but  before  he  had  the  bullet  rammed  home,  old  Rover, 
with  some  of  the  other  dogs  from  the  camp,  came  rushing 
up  for  fight.  One  of  the  young  lions  gave  a  wild  roar  and 
at  once  the  others  ceased  their  whining.  With  heads  erect, 
the  hair  standing  up  on  their  backs  and  a  cunning  gleam  in 
their  eyes,  they  appeared  overwhelming  indeed. 

"Get  one  of  them  while  you  can,  daddy.  I  have  to  reload 
my  gun,"  said  Lew.  A  shot  rang  out  from  Henry  Manning's 
rifle,  and  one  of  the  young  lions  gave  a  cry.  It  was  wounded 
but  not  down,  and  the  other  two  beasts  were  approaching 
the  Mannings.  Then  the  wounded  cub,  mad  from  his  wound, 
sprang  forward  to  wage  battle  against  his  assailants.  The 
dogs  rushed  in  between  the  men  and  beasts  just  in  time  to 
stop  their  onward  leaps.  The  Mannings  never  moved  a  peg, 
but  stood  their  ground,  reloading  their  guns,  while  the  dogs 
held  the  animals  at  bay.  Bobbie  was  told  to  run  down  the 
hill  and  urge  the  men  on  as  quickly  as  possible. 

"Now,  daddy,  if  we  can  only  get  two  of  them,  the  dogs 
will  take  care  of  the  other  one  until  we  reload.  Come  now, 
be  yourself  once  more.  This  beats  Indian  fighting,  for  these 
fellows  can't  shoot  back.  I  never  knew  you  to  miss  in  all  of 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


our  scraps  with  the  Indians,  so  buck  up  now  and  let  drive 
at  that  fellow  spatting  the  dogs  on  your  right  there,  or  he 
will  pass  them  in  a  minute  and  be  after  us.  I  will  hold  my 
gun  ready  for  the  next  shot." 

Henry  Manning  was  usually  considered  the  crack  shot  of 
all  the  train  of  emigrants  crossing  the  plains.  He  summoned 
all  his  courage  and  when  his  gun  cracked  this  time,  another 
lion  roared  his  last.  As  the  cub  dropped,  the  dogs,  growling 
and  snapping,  piled  upon  the  dying  beast.  This  gave  one  of 
the  other  lions  a  chance  to  pass,  and  with  a  bound  he  came 
at  the  men,  but  Lew's  shot  met  him  half  way  and  halted  his 
course. 

There  was  still  another  lion  to  be  accounted  for,  and  not 
a  load  in  either  gun.  Had  he  been  fully  grown  and  more 
experienced  in  the  art  of  warfare,  he  could  have  won  the 
fight  in  spite  of  all  the  dogs  and  men,  but  still  he  stood  his 
ground  and  fought  off  the  dogs,  cutting  them  frightfully  with 
his  sharp  claws.  It  began  to  look  as  if  he  would  whip  or  kill 
all  the  dogs  before  the  guns  could  be  reloaded.  Both  father 
and  son  were  working  as  fast  as  possible,  but  in  their  haste 
Lew  dropped  his  cap  box  and  spilled  all  the  caps  in  the  sand 
and  gravel.  As  he  was  trying  to  find  one  for  his  gun,  a  sharp 
report  rang  out  from  the  brush  near  by,  and  he  looked  up 
just  in  time  to  see  their  last  foe  drop  to  earth.  The  dogs 
did  the  rest. 

One  of  the  men  from  the  camp  had  heard  the  first  shots, 
and  it  was  his  approach  through  the  brush  that  had  scared 
the  young  lions  from  their  hiding  place.  He  arrived  just  in 
time  to  save  the  day  and  perhaps  the  lives  of  the  Mannings. 

Just  then  the  reserve  forces  from  the  camp  came  running 
around  the  thicket,  but  the  battle  was  all  over  and  five  dead 
mountain  lions  in  one  day  was  no  small  sight  for  a  crowd 
of  Easterners  on  their  way  to  California  to  try  their  luck. 
They  had  had  many  fights  with  the  Indians,  had  shot  buffalo, 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


coyotes,  wolves  and  even  brought  to  bay  a  few  bears,  but 
this  was  their  first  introduction  to  the  mountain  lion  of  the 
West. 

"What  on  earth  got  the  matter  with  you,  daddy?  I  never 
saw  you  lose  your  nerve  before." 

.  "I  don't  think  I  ever  did  before,  Lew,  but  for  six  months 
now  I  have  been  under  a  constant  strain  of  anxiety  for  our 
safety.  Besides,  old  Rover  has  never  deserted  me  before,  and 
when  he  struck  the  back  trail  my  nerve  seemed  to  go  with 
him.  But  I  must  take  my  hat  off  to  you,  my  boy.  Any 
child  who  has  barely  reached  his  teens  and  who  can  keep  his 
head  and  use  a  rifle  as  you  have  done  will  get  along  in  this 
world  and  make  his  mark.  You  have  saved  our  lives  and 
Bobbie's,  too,  but  don't  brag  about  it  or  let  it  give  you  the 
big  head.  I  couldn't  have  shot  that  lioness  to  save  my  life 
as  she  was  about  to  spring  upon  the  boy.  I  was  helpless 
as  a  babe.  I  had  the  'Buck-ager,'  I  guess." 

"Now,  let  me  see,"  he  continued.  "What  were  we  coming 
up  here  for,  anyway?  And  where  is  Bobbie?  Oh,  I  remem 
ber  now;  he  went  back  to  the  camp." 

"Well,  fur  the  love  of  Pete,  fellers,  where  did  you  git 
that  bunch  of  cougars?"  asked  John  Sprouls,  the  Missouri 
prospector,  who  had  just  arrived  on  the  scene  from  the  camp. 
Sprouls  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  prospecting  in 
the  mountains  of  Missouri — was  a  great  talker  and  fond  of 
telling  what  he  had  done  and  seen  in  "Old  Missouri,"  in 
which  he  was  always  the  hero.  He  had  been  the  entertainer 
all  the  way  across  the  plains,  and  it  mattered  not  what  came 
up,  or  what  anyone  had  done,  he  could  always  tell  of  some 
thing  that  had  happened  in  "Old  Missouri"  which  outdid  it 
many  times  over,  until  the  entire  train  of  emigrants  had 
learned  to  take  all  his  stories  with  a  "grain  of  salt"  and  had 
nicknamed  him  "Old  Missouri."  He  was  a  tall  man,  past 
middle  age,  gray  headed  and  with  a  long  shaggy  beard  which 


10 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

he  fondly  stroked  for  pastime.  His  eyes  were  gray  also,  and 
he  wore  a  broad  brimmed  hat  with  a  whip  lash  around  it 
for  a  band,  while  his  clothes  were  shabby  and  ill-fitting.  He 
was  very  fond  of  smoking  a  corn-cob  pipe,  which  he  nearly 
always  had  in  his  mouth. 

"Cougars,"  said  Jack  Winters  as  he  came  out  of  the 
thicket  where  he  had  killed  the  last  lion  and  walked  towards 
the  Mannings.  "If  you  call  those  fellows  cougars,  what  do 
you  have  down  in  'Old  Missouri  ?'  " 

"Well,  sir,  that  jist  reminds  me  of  a  trip  we  took  onct 
in  the  Ozarks,"  began  Missouri,  stroking  his  beard  and  puffing 
hard  on  his  pipe.  "We  had  been  out  twenty  days  in  the  hills 
prospectin'  and  we'd  had  a  lot  of  hard  luck.  Our  provisions 
was  gone  and  a  big  rain  had  come  up  suddenly  and  wet  every 
thing,  even  our  powder.  We  was  a  long  way  from  camp  and 
let  me  tell  ye,  fellers,  them  jungles  in  old  Missouri  is  mighty 
full  of  abaout  every  wild  animal  that  trots  on  this  here  old 
earth. 

"Seein's  how  our  powder  was  wet  and  that  we  only  had 
the  two  loads  in  our  guns,  we  thought  it  was  best  to  make 
tracks  fur  camp.  •  The  trail  seemed  to  lead  in  a  direction  to 
the  right  of  our  camp,  but  we  thought  of  course  it  would 
lead  out'n  the  jungle,  so  we  stayed  in  it.  To  our  great  sur 
prise,  we  discovered  before  we  had  gone  fur  that  it  was  an 
animal  trail,  for  there  was  the  tracks  of  lions  and  bear. 
'Houly  Mither  o'  Mary,'  sez  Mike  Sullivan,  my  pal  who  was 
with  me,  'Faith  and  do  ye  see  phat's  earning?'  I  looked  down 
the  trail  and  there  come  six  big  mountain  lion  and  a  bear. 
They  was  bad  fellers,  too,  and  they  come  at  us  fur  fight. 
They  didn't  stand  off  and  let  us  shoot  'em  like  these  little 
fellers  here  did.  Humph,  one  o'  them  was  as  big  as  three 
of  these.  Well,  we  had  to  git  busy  and  we  had  to  shoot 
quick  and  be  sure  of  our  aim,  fur  they  was  all  comin'  right 
at  us,  growlin'  and  roarin'  'til  the  earth  shook.  But  in  them 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 11 

days,  I  could  shoot  better'n  I  kin  now,  fur  my  eyesight  was 
better  and  my  nerves  stidier."  He  was  then  trembling  from 
head  to  foot  from  fright  over  the  dead  lions  before  him ! 

"Well,"  said  Winters,  "what  did  you  do  with  so  many 
lions  all  at  once?  I  see  you  are  here,  so  they  didn't  eat 
you  up." 

"No,  you  bet  they  didn't.  We  jist  kep'  our  heads,  Sul 
livan  and  I,  and  we  dropped  'em  as  fast  as  they  come  to  us. 
I  got  five  of  'em  myself.  We  never  let  one  of  'em  git  away 
and  I  tell  ye  it  was  some  sight,  too,  compared  with  this  little 
bunch  of  cougars.  But  then,  that's  nothin'.  We  often  had 
sich  roundups  in  'Old  Missouri.' "  Then  he  laughed  heartily 
at  his  own  story. 

"Six  lions  and  a  bear,  with  only  two  shots,"  said  Winters, 
and  they  all  joined  in  a  big  laugh. 

"Yes,  sir,  and  I  kin  prove  hit  by  Sullivan,"  pulling  his 
beard  quite  nervously  and  refilling  his  pipe  for  another  smoke. 

"Tell  us  how  you  did  it?"  asked  the  other,  scratching  his 
bald  head. 

"That's  easy.  Ye  see,  they  was  all  in  the  path,  one  right 
behind  the  other.  An'  that  old  gun  of  mine  would  shoot 
down  a  mile  of  lions.  I  got  the  first  shot  an'  brought  down 
five  of  'em.  I  would  have  got  the  rest,  but  a  turn  in  the 
trail  put  the  last  two  out  o'  range,  an'  Sullivan  fixed  them," 
said  Sprouls,  laughing  again  and  taking  another  long  pull  at 
his  corn-cob  pipe. 

This  was  only  a  sample  of  the  stories  with  which  "Old 
Missouri"  had  entertained  the  travelers  for  the  past  six 
months.  It  certainly  would  have  been  a  lonely  trip  without 
him. 

"But  who  done  all  this  fine  shootin'?"  asked  Missouri,  as 
he  cautiously  drew  near  the  dead  beasts  as  if  he  was  afraid 
that  some  of  them  might  still  be  alive,  holding  his  big  hat 
in  his  shaking  hand. 


12 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Lewie,  the  boy  here,  did  the  most  of  it.  I  only  got  one  of 
the  cubs,"  said  the  elder  Manning,  placing  his  hand  upon  the 
boy's  head,  while  tears  moistened  his  eyes.  "Those  cougars 
would  have  gotten  us  if  Lew  had  not  kept  his  head  better 
than  I  did." 

"Well,  when  that  boy  left  Kansas  City,  I  never  thought 
he  could  ever  larn  to  shoot,"  said  Missouri,  striking  a  sulphur 
match  to  relight  his  pipe,  "but  six  months'  travelin'  with  an 
emigrant  train  has  sure  larned  him  a  whole  lot  and  I  guess 
he  kin  take  keer  o'  himself  now,  if  he  gits  in  a  tight  place." 

"But,  daddy,"  said  Lew,  "have  you  forgotten  what  we 
came  up  here  for?  What  about  the  Indians  in  the  valley 
below  us?  Come  on,  let's  take  a  look  over  the  hill,"  pointing 
towards  the  hill  top. 

Lew  started  for  the  top  of  the  hill  with  his  father  close 
behind  him,  while  five  of  the  men  began  rapidly  removing 
the  hides  from  the  lions,  as  they  expected  to  use  them  for 
robes  during  the  coming  winter.  As  the  top  of  the  hill  was 
reached,  the  sound  that  the  boys  had  heard  came  very  clearly 
to  them,  and  Mr.  Manning's  face  brightened  up.  He  took  his 
field  glasses  from  his  pocket  and  remarked  as  he  placed  them 
to  his  eyes,  "I  guess  it  is  not  Indians." 

The  sun  was  just  peeking  into  the  valley  from  over  the 
top  of  the  mountain  at  Emigrant  Gap.  The  morning  was 
still  and  clear  and  the  noise  which  the  boys  had  heard  and 
which  seemed  to  be  about  a  mile  or  two  away  was  really  much 
further  and  a  good  day's  travel  by  wagon  road,  but  not  so 
far  across-country,  for  the  roads  wind  around  the  sides  of 
the  mountains  to  make  an  easy  grade,  while  sounds  will  travel 
a  long  distance  of  a  clear  morning  in  the  still  mountain  atmos 
phere. 

Presently  Mr.  Manning  took  the  glasses  from  his  face 
and  handing  them  to  his  son  said :  "Take  a  look,  Lew. 
There  is  the  prettiest  sight  you  have  seen  in  a  long  time." 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 13 

Lew  took  the  glasses  and  had  hardly  placed  them  to  his  eyes 
when  he  exclaimed:  "Oh,  daddy,  I  guess  we  are  going  to 
get  there  at  last,  for  it  looks  as  though  we  were  coming  to 
a  mining  camp.  It  looks  just  like  'Old  Missouri'  said  it 
would,  for  I  see  a  lot  of  tents  and  men  washing  the  sides 
of  the  hill  with  big  streams  of  water." 

Turning  around,  Mr.  Manning  saw  that  John  Sprouls  had 
finished  removing  the  pelt  from  his  lion  first,  as  he  was  an 
expert  at  the  business.  He  called  to  him  to  come  to  the  top 
of  the  hill.  Mr.  Sprouls  was  a  man  past  the  middle  of  life. 
He  did  as  he  was  bid  with  reluctance,  but  when  he  reached 
the  top  he  began  to  complain  to  the  captain  for  ordering  him 
to  climb  the  hill.  Without  a  word,  Mr.  Manning  handed  him 
the  glasses  and  pointed  to  the  mining  camp  in  the  flat  below. 
Placing  the  glasses  to  his  eyes  a  moment,  he  turned  to  Man 
ning  and  said :  "I'll  bet  a  coon  skin  that  is  Dutch  Flat.  Our 
guide  book  sez  it's  the  first  minin'  camp  we'll  come  to.  Come 
on,  let's  hurry  down  there.  That  looks  good  to  me,"  taking 
his  pipe  from  his  mouth  and  putting  it  in  his  pocket  hur 
riedly  as  though  he  must  go  to  it  at  once. 

He  seemed  to  forget  the  families  and  teams  in  camp  some 
distance  back  of  them  and  started  as  though  he  was  going 
to  the  newly  sighted  mines,  when  suddenly  there  rang  out 
on  the  still  air  two  short  blasts  and  one  long,  shrill  blast 
from  the  direction  of  the  camp.  The  men  looked  at  each 
other  in  alarm.  They  needed  no  one  to  tell  them  what  it 
meant,  but  "Old  Missouri"  said  excitedly,  "Great  scot,  Hank, 
the  cougars  have  attacked  our  camp!"  and  he  jerked  off  his 
hat  and  pulled  his  beard  furiously,  not  knowing  what  else 
to  do. 

Every  man  grabbed  his  gun,  looked  well  to  see  if  it  was 
loaded  and  a  cap  in  place,  then  a  rush  was  made  for  the 
camp  with  rifles  in  hand,  ready  for  a  battle  royal  with  the 
cougars.  "Old  Missouri"  was  so  nervous  that  they  were 


14 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

afraid  he  would  accidentally  shoot  some  one,  as  he  had  his 
rifle  cocked  and  was  swinging  it  promiscuously  in  the  air. 

"Put  that  hammer  down  on  your  gun  and  quit  your  tom 
foolery,  or  we'll  take  a  shot  at  you,"  commanded  Captain  Man 
ning.  "You  will  kill  some  one,  brandishing  your  gun  that 
way.  This  is  no  time  to  get  excited.  Just  keep  cool  and  wait 
until  we  see  what  the  trouble  is." 

They  were  soon  close  enough  to  the  camp  to  hear  what 
was  going  on.  The  horses  and  mules  were  snorting,  plung 
ing,  pawing  and  throwing-  their  heads  about  in  great  excite 
ment.  Some  of  them  had  even  broken  loose  from  their  hitch 
ing.  Henry  Manning  was  in  the  lead  and  was  now  the  coolest 
man  in  the  crowd.  He  passed  by  his  own  tent  and  wagon 
first  and  seeing  that  all  was  well  with  his  wife  and  Bobbie, 
asked  them  what  the  trouble  was.  They  said  they  did  not 
know,  but  that  the  horses  were  much  excited  over  something. 

Just  at  this  moment  "Old  Missouri"  cried  out,  "The 
cougars  are  coming;  git  your  guns  ready."  Some  of  them 
understood  him  to  say  the  Indians  were  coming  and  they 
began  hurried  preparations  for  battle.  These  people,  like 
many  others  in  crossing  the  plains,  traveled  together  for  their 
mutual  protection  against  the  attacks  of  both  Indians  and 
wild  animals  and  there  were  some  twenty-odd  teams  in  this 
camp. 

In  the  meantime,  Henry  Manning  had  made  a  hurried  trip 
through  the  camp  and  found  everything  to  be  all  right. 

"Attention,  men!"  he  cried,  for  he  was  captain  of  the 
caravan,  and  they  were  looking  to  him  for  orders.  "There 
is  no  danger  at  all.  Put  down  your  guns  and  attend  to  your 
teams.  The  horses  have  caught  the  scent  of  the  animals  we 
have  just  killed  and  their  instinct  tells  them  there  is  danger, 
but  of  course  they  don't  know  that  we  have  killed  them." 

So  in  a  little  while  all  was  quiet.  The  men  and  women 
were  busy  examining  the  lion  pelts  and  Lew  was  receiving 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING 15 

congratulations  on  every  hand  for  his  bravery  and  good 
marksmanship.  Suddenly  the  crack  of  a  whip  and  the  rattle 
of  a  wagon  came  to  their  ears  and  looking  around,  they  dis 
covered  "Old  Missouri"  hitched  up  and  pulling  out! 

"Wait  a  minute  there,  Missouri !"  came  the  sharp  com 
mand  from  Captain  Manning. 

"What  fur,  Captain?  Didn't  ye  see  Dutch  Flat  right 
below  us?  The  end  of  our  trip  is  right  there,"  pointing  with 
his  whip,  "an'  we're  jist  losing  time  here  in  camp,  when  we 
might  be  takin'  out  thousands  of  yaller  nuggets.  I  could 
actually  see  the  men  pickin'  them  up,  from  the  top  of  the  hill 
yonder,  a  few  minutes  ago.  I  'spect  to  have  a  bucket  full 
of  'em  before  night.  So  long!"  and  he  cracked  his  whip 
again  as  he  started  off. 

"Look  out  for  cougars  on  the  way,  'Missouri,'  "  cried  Jack 
Winters.  "They  say  the  woods  here  are  full  of  them  and 
that  trail  goes  right  through  their  .haunts.  You  can't  kill 
all  of  these  lions  with  one  shot  like  you  did  those  Missouri 
cats.  They  have  never  been  trained  to  line  up  so  you  can 
kill  them  that  way.  These  fellows  will  eat  you  up  alive.  Of 
course,  it  would  be  rather  tough  eating  after  this  long  trip, 
but  you  want  to  look  out  or  you  will  be  wearing  a  fur  over 
coat  without  knowing  anything  about  it,"  he  said,  taunting 
him  over  the  story  he  had  told. 

"Yes,"  said  Captain  Manning,  "according  to  this  guide 
book,  Dutch  Flat  is  just  a  day's  travel  away,  following  the 
road  as  it  winds  around  these  mountains,  and  it  is  in  such 
a  shape  that  it  will  take  us  a  good  day  to  make  it  all  right. 
You  better  wait  for  us,  you  might  need  our  help." 

At  that  John  Sprouls  halted.  The  thought  of  having  to 
meet  more  cougars  alone  caused  him  to  suddenly  change  his 
mind,  for  he  was  always  a  hero  in  his  stories,  but  a  coward 
when  an  actual  fight  was  on. 

"Well,  then,  git  a  move  on  ye,  and  I'll  wait  fur  ye,"  was 


16 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

his  reply,  grabbing  his  beard  and  spitting  out  a  cud  of 
tobacco  to  make  place  for  a  new  one. 

In  a  short  time  breakfast  was  over  and  they  were  all  on 
their  way  to  Dutch  Flat.  The  trail  was  badly  cut  up  and 
progress  was  slow,  but  just  at  dusk  the  tired  travelers  pulled 
into  Dutch  Flat,  where  actual  mining  by  the  hydraulic  proc 
ess  was  seeing  its  balmy  days.  It  was  agreed  that  they 
should  all  go  into  camp  again  that  night  for  the  last  time 
and  hold  a  parting  reunion,  for  some  were  headed  for  one 
camp  and  some  for  another. 

It  was  too  late  to  see  anything  of  the  mining  operations 
that  night,  however,  but  they  could  hear  the  constant  groan 
ing  of  the  great  hydraulic  monitor  and  the  splashing  of  the 
water  as  it  ate  away  the  banks  of  gravel,  sand  and  boulders. 

The  trip  had  been  long  and  tedious,  yet  interesting,  too. 
They  had  heard  so  much  of  the  fortunes  made  digging  gold 
in  California  that  they  had  decided  to  try  their  luck  in  that 
direction,  and  now  that  they  were  actually  encamped  at  last 
in  a  California  mining  town,  where  millions  were  being  mined, 
it  seemed  as  though  their  hearts  certainly  ought  to  be  filled 
with  happiness. 

With  most  of  them  this  was  so,  but  there  was  a  tinge  of 
sadness  in  it  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Manning,  for  they  had  left 
one  member  of  their  family  behind  and  it  weighed  heavily 
upon  their  hearts.  As  a  rule,  Mrs.  Manning  was  jolly  and 
lively,  but  since  leaving  their  old  home  she  could  not  speak 
of  this  trouble  without  giving  visible  evidence  of  her  feelings, 
so  it  was  never  mentioned  in  her  presence,  but  she  always 
carried  a  sad  expression  on  her  face.  Some  one  dead,  you 
say?  Perhaps  it  might  have  been  better  so,  but  at  a  more 
favorable  time  her  storv  will  be  told. 


CHAPTER  II 
AROUND  THE  CAMPFIRE 

Upon  an  order  from  Captain  Manning,  all  the  teams  were 
put  out  and  cared  for;  supper  was  then  hastily  prepared  and 
eaten  and  then  all  parties  of  the  train — including-  thirty-one 
men,  three  women  and  three  children — Lew  and  Robert  Man 
ning  and  Jack  Winters'  little  daughter,  Myrtle,  gathered 
around  the  big  camp  fire  before  the  tent  of  Henry  Manning 
to  spend  the  last  evening  together  and  have  a  parting  word. 

It  was  almost  like  breaking  family  ties  to  break  up  this 
happy  company,  after  their  daily  associations  together  for 
six  months,  caring  for  each  other  and  bearing  one  another's 
burdens  for  two  thousand  miles  across  the  rough  mountain 
tops  and  through  desert  country.  They  had  learned  to  love 
one  another  as  brothers  and  sisters  and  now  that  some  were 
to  go  into  Sierra  County,  others  to  Plumas,  Nevada  and 
Placer  Counties  and  still  others  elsewhere,  they  dreaded  the 
moment  of  parting,  realizing  that  some  of  them  would  never 
meet  again,  for  none  knew  what  this  wild  country  had  in 
store  for  them.  They  had  heard  many  wild  rumors  of  the 
robberies  and  murders  that  were  constantly  taking  place  in 
the  "wild  and  woolly  west,"  as  yet  without  much  law. 

"Now,"  said  Captain  Manning,  "we  are  in  camp  and 
around  our  coals  and  kettle  for  perhaps  the  last  time  as  a 
whole.  I  want  to  say  a  word  and  hear  a  word  from  the  rest 
of  you  before  we  part,  but  first  I  have  a  little  surprise  for 
you.  As  you  all  know,  we  have  been  out  of  coffee  for  several 
days,  but  as  we  were  pulling  into  camp  I  ran  across  to  a  little 
store  and  bought  some  and  have  it  now  boiling  in  the  kettle. 
It  will  be  ready  in  a  little  while  and  we  will  all  drink  to  our 
health." 

17 


IS WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Couldn't  you  find  anything  stronger  than  coffee,  Cap 
tain?"  asked  Missouri,  taking  his  pipe  from  his  mouth  and 
laughing  with  the  rest  at  his  own  question. 

"Yes,  I  suppose  I  could,  but  I  was  not  looking  for  that, 
for  I  knew  you  would  find  it  quick  enough  without  my  assist 
ance.  I  also  knew  that  we  could  see  the  nuggets  better  and 
be  better  miners  if  we  confined  our  drinking  to  coffee,"  replied 
Manning  to  rebuke  him,  and  then  addressing  the  assembly : 
"But  what  I  was  going  to  say  was  that  you  placed  great  con 
fidence  in  me  when  you  selected  me  to  be  the  captain  of  this 
company  at  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  on  April  2nd,  just  six 
months  ago  yesterday.  I  was  reluctant  to  take  the  respon 
sibility,  but  you  insisted  and  now  I  want  to  give  an  account 
of  my  stewardship." 

"Go  on  with  it,"  cried  out  several  at  once,  and  he  con 
tinued  : 

"There  were  forty-nine  of  us  when  we  started,  and  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  there  are  only  thirty-seven  of  us  left  to  tell 
the  story  of  our  trip.  Had  it  not  been  for  our  fights  with 
the  Indians  we  would  be  able  to  count  eight  more  men  among 
our  number.  They  were  brave  fellows  and  died  fighting  at 
their  posts,  but  we  can  say  for  them  that  their  lives  cost  the 
Indians  dear,  for  they  must  have  lost  a  dozen  for  every  man 
we  lost. 

"Then  we  started  with  five  capable  women  in  our  train, 
but  sickness  claimed  two  of  them  and  we  laid  them  tenderly 
away  in  the  sands  of  the  plains  and  set  up  rough  stones  to 
mark  their  last  resting  places.  One  of  them  was  the  mother 
of  little  Myrtle  here,  who  has  so  bravely  taken  her  mother's 
place  and  is  her  father's  constant  companion.  But  three  of 
our  good  wives  are  left  us  to  help  bear  our  burdens  and  share 
our  fortunes,  if  any  of  us  are  so  lucky  as  to  find  the  gold 
we  came  after. 

"Then  we  lost  one  man  and  a  child  when  a  raft  capsized 


AROUND   THE  CAMPFIRE 19 

upon  which  they  were  crossing-  the  Platte  River  and  they  were 
caught  beneath  it  and  washed  away,  with  all  their  goods. 

"Considering  everything,  we  fared  quite  well.  Our 
chances  for  loss  were  great,  but  we  were  fortunate  in  having 
good  marksmen  and,  in  most  cases,  men  as  brave  as  ever 
crossed  the  plains.  We  might  have  fared  much  worse,  but 
the  guiding  hand  of  Providence  has  led  us  and  now  we  have 
reached  our  destination,  except  for  minor  journeys  for  some 
of  us.  Tomorrow  morning  when  we  break  up  camp  my 
command  of  this  train  ends  and  I  hope  and  expect  that  every 
one  of  you  will  be  able  to  give  a  good  account  of  yourselves 
when  you  return  to  the  'States.' 

"We  have  with  us  here  in  camp  an  officer,  Mr.  Bass,  who 
is  the  marshal  of  this  mining  camp.  He  also  is  from  Mis 
souri,  and  having  heard  of  our  arrival  a  few  minutes  ago, 
came  over  to  inquire  about  our  welfare  and  to  acquaint  us 
with  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  mining  camps  in  this 
western  country.  We  will  now  hear  from  Marshal  Bass." 

"My  fellow  men,"  began  Mr.  Bass,  "you  look  like  weary 
travelers  in  a  far  country,  and  so  you  are.  I  made  that  trip 
over  that  same  trail  several  years  ago  and  know  all  about  it. 
I  have  heard  Mr.  Manning  relate  your  experiences  along  the 
way,  but  friends,  it  was  nothing  to  some  of  the  experiences 
we  had  in  the  year  I  came  out.  We  lost  fully  half  of  our 
men  in  battle  with  the  Indians  and  some  entire  trains 'were 
massacred.  Only  their  bleaching  bones  and  wrecked  wagons 
were  left  to  tell  the  tale  of  their  hardships.  Traveling  is 
much  better  now  than  it  was  then  and  the  Indians  are  less 
hostile.  It  is  going  to  be  still  better,  for  there  is  now  a  plan 
on  foot  to  build  a  railroad  connecting  California  with  the 
'States.'  Men  are  even  now  at  work  running  the  survey  and 
in  a  few  months  actual  grading  and  track  laying  will  begin. 
Just  yesterday  a  man  arrived  here  from  San  Francisco  and 
reported  that  there  was  a  ship  unloading  railroad  iron  along 
the  bay  for  this  new  project. 


20 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"No,  gentlemen,  it  is  nothing  new  to  see  trains  of  'gold 
diggers'  arrive,  as  you  call  yourselves.  We  call  you  'tender- 
feet.'  You  may  not  think  that  very  applicable  to  you  after 
a  six  months'  drill  across  the  sands  of  the  desert,  but  you 
will  find  that  you  have  many  things  to  learn  yet  of  this 
western  country  and  some  of  them  will  cost  you  a  great  deal 
dearer  than  your  experience  with  the  Indians  if  you  are  not 
mighty  careful.  I  came  over  to  'put  you  next,'  and  hope  you 
will  take  my  advice.  About  the  only  law  we  have  here  is  the 
six-shooter  and  every  man  for  himself.  The  man  who  med 
dles  with  the  business  of  another  usually  dies  on  the  spot. 

"Oh,  yes,  we  have  law  and  officers  here,  but  there  are 
men  scattered  all  over  these  hills  and  only  a  few  of  us  officers. 
We  can't  be  everywhere  at  the  same  time.  Every  day  new 
arrivals  come  in  to  some  part  of  the  mining  district.  These 
tenderfeet  think  it  is  a  free  country  and  that  they  are  at 
liberty  to  mine  gold  wherever  they  want  to.  Sometimes  they 
try  to  jump  another  man's  claim,  which,  of  course,  stirs  up 
his  Irish  and  he  in  turn  proceeds  to  settle  the  dispute  with 
his  six-shooter.  It  is  usually  all  over  before  we  officers  know 
anything  about  it. 

"Now  let  me  warn  you  to  be  careful  what  you  do  and 
if  you  want  to  mine  there  is  plenty  of  ground  that  has  never 
been  touched  yet;  but  if  you  find  something  good  that  has 
been  staked  by  another  and  you  want  it,  purchase  it,  or 
acquire  it  in  a  peaceful  way,  for  otherwise  it  is  likely  to  cause 
you  trouble.  Another  thing  and  that  is,  if  you  have  any 
money  with  you,  or  if  you  are  fortunate  enough  to  make 
a  stake  upon  your  claims,  keep  it  to  yourself  and  don't  let 
anyone  know  about  it,  for  the  camps  are  full  of  fellows  who 
make  it  their  business  to  waylay  and  plunder  the  unsuspecting. 
There  are  fellows  who  tell  of  rich  claims  that  they  have  or 
know  about  and  purposely  lead  men  out  to  them  to  rob  them 
and  usually  the  tenderfoot  goes  and  never  returns. 


AROUND  THE  CAMPFIRE 21 

"The  saloons  and  gambling  halls  come  the  first  thing  to 
every  new  mining  camp.  Why  are  they  here,  do  you  ask? 
To  get  your  money,  of  course,  and  if  you  are  wise,  you  will 
stay  away  from  them.  In  the  few  years  that  I  have  been  here 
I  never  knew  a  man  to  make  anything  in  them  and  get  away 
with  it.  He  is  usually  interested  and  held  there  by  his  pals 
until  his  money  is  all  won  away  from  him;  or  if  there  is  no 
other  way  to  make  him  'cough  up,'  the  six-shooter  is  used  in 
the  dark  and  his  body  covered  up  in  the  sand.  And  who 
knows  about  it,  and  who  cares? 

"But  for  all  that,  this  is  a  great  mining  district.  Nevada 
County,  California,  is  the  center  of  the  California  mining.  It 
is  now  estimated  from  rather  reliable  sources  that  this  county 
has  already  produced  over  eighty  millions  in  gold  from  the 
gravel  beds  alone,  and  real  mining  has  hardly  begun  yet. 
These  sand  pits  and  gravel  beds,  wherever  you  find  them, 
have  gold  in  them.  Some  of  them  are  rich  enough  for  placer 
mining  and  all  of  them  would  pay  when  worked  by  the 
hydraulic  process  as  we  are  now  doing  here  in  Dutch  Flat. 
The  same  process  is  being  used  at  Red  Dog,  You  Bet,  Hunts 
Flat,  Nevada  City,  Blue  Tent,  Sailor  Flat,  North  Bloomfield 
and  North  Columbia.  There  are  many  other  mines  that  I 
might  mention,  which  have  yielded  millions  in  gold  and  most 
of  which  are  now  seeing  their  best  days. 

"What  do  I  mean  by  hydraulic  mining?  Well,  you  hear 
that  water  pouring  against  the  side  of  that  hill  there,  don't 
you  ?  That  is  what  I  mean.  We  go  back  up  in  the  mountains 
and  find  a  good  water  supply.  Then  we  dig  a  ditch 
around  the  sides  of  the  mountains  and  bring  the  water  from 
the  melting  snows  and  springs  down  the  hillside  in  these 
ditches  and  in  pipes  until  we  have  a  good  fall  to  give  it 
pressure.  Then  we  erect  these  monitors,  sometimes  called 
'Giants,'  with  a  hinge  or  pivot  and  a  nozzle  to  give  the  water 
greater  pressure.  When  we  turn  this  great  volume  of  water 


22 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

against  these  gravel  beds,  it  washes  the  gravel  all  away,  run 
ning  it  through  the  sluices,  where  we  catch  the  gold  with 
quicksilver,  or  among  the  wooden  blocks  set  upon  end  in  the 
sluices.  The  gold,  being  heavier  than  rock,  settles  in  the 
cracks  and  crevices,  while  the  sand  and  cobbles  are  carried 
on  over  by  the  great  volume  of  swiftly  running  water. 

"This  washing  process  is  allowed  to  go  on  for  a  month 
and  then  we  stop  sluicing  and  'clean  up'  by  lifting  all  the 
blocks  from  the  sluices  and  gathering  up  all  the  gold,  which 
has  lodged  there  or  been  picked  up  by  the  quicksilver.  Then 
we  melt  up  the  gold  thus  recovered  into  bars  of  bullion,  which 
we  send  to  the  U.  S.  Mint  at  San  Francisco  and  get  the  cash 
for  it. 

"This  process  of  mining  requires  considerable  capital  to 
start  with  and  needs  experienced  men,  so  you  will  not  likely 
undertake  mining  upon  this  plan,  for  the  present  at  least. 
Lots  of  men  have  made  fortunes  here  in  mining  with  the 
'pan,'  which  will  probably  be  your  first  method.  Many  more 
men  will  make  fortunes  in  the  same  way,  for  it  is  believed 
that  mining  has  hardly  begun  in  this  section  of  the  country 
as  yet. ' 

"Is  it  all  placer  mining,  do  you  say?  Well,  no.  So  far 
most  of  the  mining  in  this  section  has  be£n  placer  and  hydrau 
lic  mining,  but  it  is  not  going  to  continue  that  way.  There 
are  going  to  be  great  changes  in  the  methods  of  mining  before 
long.  They  are  already  coming  and  I  fear  it  will  bring  a 
great  hardship  to  many  of  us. 

"There  are  two  reasons.  First,  this  hydraulic  mining  has 
been  carried  on  to  such  an  extent  that  hundreds  of  acres  of 
ground  are  being  washed  clean  to  the  bedrock  of  all  sand 
and  earth  and  the  great  volume  of  water,  aided  by  the  steep 
incline  in  elevation,  is  carrying  all  of  this  debris  to  the 
Sacramento  Valley  and  depositing  it  in  the  Sacramento  River 
and  other  streams.  It  is  filling  up  the  river  beds,  which  is 


AROUND  THE  CAMPFIRE 23 

a  great  hindrance  to  navigation  and  also  causes  the  rivers  to 
overflow  and  destroy  the  crops  on  the  farms  along  the  river 
bottoms  during  the  rainy  seasons.  There  is  a  complaint  going 
up  from  almost  every  section  affected  that  the  damage  is 
greater  than  the  gold  recovered. 

"Of  course,  we  all  know  better,  but  it  is  having  its  effect 
with  the  courts  and  legislatures  just  the  same,  and  even  at 
this  moment  there  is  an  injunction  suit  pending  in  the  courts 
of  this  state  against  the  North  Bloomfield  Company  which, 
if  upheld,  will  prohibit  mining  by  the  hydraulic  process.  Look 
what  that  would  do  for  this  section,  should  the  courts  or 
Congress  stop  us.  Why,  there  are  over  one  hundred  big 
mines  operating  here  upon  that  plan  right  now  and  turning 
out  millions  of  dollars  in  gold.  The  fact  is  that  this  process 
of  mining  has  just  reached  the  height  of  its  glory.  We  have 
not  piped  a  tenth  part  of  the  gravel  to  be  found  here  yet. 
It  would  sure  put  this  section  of  the  country  on  the  bum. 

"The  second  reason  is  that  the  washing  off  of  the  sand 
and  gravel  to  the  bed  rock  has  exposed  many  quartz  veins 
containing  gold  in  sufficient  quantities  to  pay  for  the  working. 
It  has  been  discovered  that  practically  the  whole  county  is 
mineralized  and  is  a  regular  net-work  of  quartz  veins.  Very 
few  of  these  veins  have  been  worked  as  yet,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  machinery  to  crush  the  rock  and  recover  the  values. 
Some  of  them  have  been  opened  up  and  worked  by  the 
Errasts  method  and  with  such  other  machinery  as  could  be 
had.  But  with  the  coming  of  the  railroad  we  will  get  better 
machinery  and  then  many  of  these  veins  will  be  worked. 
Where  there  is  one  mine  now  there  will  be  ten  or  more 
later  on. 

"But  I  am  taking  up  too  much  time,  for  I  must  be  making 
my  rounds  to  see  that  everything  is  all  right.  We  want  you 
to  know  that  you  are  welcome,  however,  and  wish  you  all  the 
prosperity  possible.  Arrivals  like  this  may  seem  very  impor- 


24 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

tant  to  you,  but  it  is  an  every  day  occurrence  with  us,  as  people 
are  pouring  in  here  from  all  over  the  country.  Well,  so  long, 
people — good  night!" 

"We  wish  to  thank  you  very  much,  Marshal  Bass,  for 
your  very  instructive  speech  and  your  advice,  for  you  have 
told  us  just  what  we  most  needed  to  know,"  said  Captain 
Manning,  "and  I  am  sure  we  will  all  profit  by  it.  But  the 
coffee  will  soon  be  ready,  Marshal.  Won't  you  stay  and  have 
a  cup  with  us?" 

The  marshal  then  consented  to  stay  a  while  longer,  and 
the  captain  continued : 

"Now  I  am  sure  we  would  all  like  to  hear  a  word  from 
our  good  friend,  Jack  Winters.  We  may  need  a  lawyer  some 
of  these  times,  and  we  want  to  keep  tab  on  him,  for  we  know 
he  is  a  good  one.  We  learned  early  on  our  trip  that  we  could 
depend  upon  him  in  time  of  need  and  he  has  helped  us  out 
in  many  a  tight  place.  We  will  now  hear  from  Mr.  Winters." 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Winters,  "I  really  have  enjoyed  the 
most  of  our  hardships  and  experiences  on  our  way  out  here, 
except  my  own  personal  loss.  I  did  not  come  with  the  inten 
tion  to  personally  use  the  'pan'  and  shovel  myself,  and  yet  I 
might.  I  simply  got  tired  of  sitting  in  my  law  office  with 
nothing  to  do.  I  like  to  be  busy  and  the  more  exciting  a 
case  is  the  better  it  suits  me.  The  fact  is  I  am  looking  for 
a  new  location  for  my  practice  and  I  thought  that  this  western 
country,  being  new,  would  give  me  the  chance  I  was  looking 
for. 

"I  would  like  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  most  of  this  party. 
From  what  the  previous  speaker  has  told  us,  I  think  there  is 
going  to  be  some  need  of  cooperation  among  us  to  meet  the 
conditions  which  are  arising  and  I  am  sure  I  can  work  out 
a  plan  whereby  we  can  work  together  and  make  our  money 
just  the  same.  I  want  to  take  a  week  to  look  the  mining 
camps  over  and  acquaint  myself  with  conditions  and  then  I 


AROUND  THE  CAMPFIRB 35 

would  like  to  meet  with  as  many  of  you  as  can  possibly  come 
here  one  week  from  tonight.  I  may  have  something  to  offer 
you  by  that  time,"  he  said,  as  he  sat  down  on  a  large  rock 
which  served  the  place  of  a  chair. 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  we  all  meet  Mr.  Winters 
here  next  Wednesday  evening  at  this  time,"  put  in  John 
Sprouls,  "to  hear  what  he  has  to  offer  us."  There  came  half 
a  dozen  seconds  and  it  was  carried. 

"Speech  from  'Old  Missouri,' "  someone  cried  out,  and  the 
rest  took  it  up,  "Speech!  Speech!" 

"The  hell  with  you;  I  can't  make  a  speech,"  retorted 
Sprouls. 

"Tell  us  a  story,  then,"  said  Captain  Manning.  "You  are 
never  short  on  stories." 

A  smile  and  wink  went  the  rounds  of  the  company  as 
Missouri  began  to  tug  at  his  long,  shaggy  beard,  for  they 
knew  that  a  story  was  coming.  He  seldom  failed  them  and 
they  all  knew  this  would  be  a  big  one.  Presently  he  straight 
ened  up,  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his  pipe  and  was  about 
to  speak,  when  a  terrible  explosion  .took  place  which  fairly 
shook  the  ground  where  they  were  encamped,  while  sand  and 
gravel  flew  in  every  direction.  The  women  screamed  and  the 
men  started  to  their  feet  in  alarm,  but  Marshal  Bass,  who 
had  not  yet  gone,  explained  to  them  that  it  was  only  a  blast 
to  loosen  up  the  gravel  so  that  it  could  be  worked  more 
easily. 

"You  see,"  said  Mr.  Bass,  "the  gravel  here  is  more  than 
two  hundred  feet  deep  to  the  bedrock  and  is  so  tightly  packed 
that  it  washes  slowly  unless  it  is  loosened  up.  So  we  just 
tunnel  under  the  gravel  bank  near  the  bedrock  for  about  forty 
or  fifty  feet.  Then  we  place  ten  or  more  kegs  of  powder  in 
this  tunnel  and  touch  it  off.  That  loosens  thousands  of  tons 
of  gravel  and  it  then  sluices  much  more  easily  and  quickly. 
We  shoot  these  banks  twice  a  day  right  along." 


26 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"That  reminds  me,"  began  Sprouls,  striking  a  sulphur 
match  and  lighting  his  pipe,  "of  another  story  that  is  actual 
facts.  Ye  see  I  come  from  Hickory  County,  Missouri,  that 
is,  I  did  some  mining  in  that  county.  One  day  I  started  out 
to  look  fur  a  new  prospect.  It  was  in  a  very  rough  part  o' 
the  country  and  as  I  was  too  fur  from  my  cabin  to  git  back 
by  nightfall,  I  jist  rolled  up  in  my  blanket,  crawled  under 
a  cliff  of  rock  that  hung  out  over  the  bank  and  went  to  sleep. 
Next  morning,  as  I  was  eatin'  my  breakfast,  such  as  I  had  car 
ried  with  me,  I  happened  to  look  down  and  saw  a  gold  nugget 
about  as  big  as  my  fist  lying  on  the  ground  beside  me.  I 
begun  to  look  around  and  found  a  lot  more  of  them  lying 
around  loose,  while  the  rock  above  my  head  was  jist  full  of 
'em  and  looked  like  solid  gold. 

"I  was  sure  there  was  a  million  dollars  or  more  in  sight 
and  I  was  so  excited  abaout  it  that  I  hardly  knowed  what  to 
do,  but  finally  I  piled  up  the  gold  and  marked  the  place  so 
I  could  find  it  again.  Then  I  started  right  back  to  my  old 
camp  fur  my  pardner,  Mike  Sullivan,  but  somehow  I  got 
lost  and  was  two  days  findin'  my  way  again.  But  do  you 
know,  when  I  told  Mike  abaout  it  he  jist  laughed  at  me  and 
said,  'Faith  and  bejabbers,  do  ye  think  ye're  Houly  St.  Pater, 
walking  about  hivin  on  the  sthreets  of  gold?'  He  refused  to 
believe  it,  but  finally  I  convinced  him  and  he  said  he'd  go 
back  with  me  and  see  fur  himself.  Well,  sir,  we  never  could 
find  that  place  again  and  we  looked  fur  over  a  week,  too, 
but  we  never  did  find  it." 

"That  was  a  nice  dream  you  were  having,  it's  too  bad 
you  had  to  wake  up,"  said  Lew,  who  never  believed  much 
that  Sprouls  said  and  liked  to  tease  him  about  it. 

"Say,  I  found  that  same  spot,"  said  Winters,  as  he  gave 
some  of  his  comrades  a  wink.  They  all  understood  that  this, 
was  to  be  another  joke  on  "Missouri." 

"The  hell  you  say,"  spoke  up  Sprouls,  forgetting  to  puff 
on  his  pipe  in  his  excitement. 


AROUND  THE  CAMPFIRE 37 

"Yes,  sir,  I  was  out  hunting  in  those  hills  with  a  bunch 
of  Kansas  City  fellows.  We  often  went  out  there  for  a  big 
hunt  and  one  day  we  came  to  a  pile  of  ore  and  saw  your 
fresh  markings  with  your  name  upon  it.  When  we  examined 
the  ore  we  found  it  to  be  nothing  but  brass — just  a  common 
ordinary  brass  mine.  We  thought  we  would  play  a  joke  on 
you,  so  we  pulled  down  your  markings  and  covered  up  the 
ore." 

Mr.  Sprouls  was  speechless  for  a  moment  and  then  his 
face  colored  up  with  anger.  He  pulled  out  his  six-shooter 
and  looking  at  Winters,  said : 

"Well,  why'n  hell  didn't  you  say  so  long  ago.  I've  got 
a  notion  to  shoot  you  for  it  yet." 

Then  everybody  laughed,  for  they  saw  that  he  had  believed 
Jack  Winters'  tale.  He  had  claimed  to  be  a  miner  and  such 
a  good  judge  of  minerals,  yet  did  not  know  that  brass  was 
but  a  combination  of  other  metals — that  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  a  brass  mine.  He  saw  there  was  a  joke  attached 
to  it  somewhere,  but  was  determined  not  to  be  beaten,  so 
placing  his  gun  slowly  back  in  its  holster,  he  went  on  with 
his  story: 

"Well,  sir,  we  hunted  for  that  mine  a  week  or  more  and 
one  night  we  saw  a  light  way  across  one  of  the  hollers.  We 
thought  some  one  might  have  found  our  mine  and  we  decided 
to  go  over  there  the  next  day  and  see  what  they  were  doin'. 
Well,  we  finally  located  them  the  next  morning,  so  we  crept 
up  the  hill  above  'em  to  watch  their  movements  and  learn 
what  they  were  up  to. 

"There  was  three  men  at  work  down  by  the  bed  of  the 
river.  They  did  not  know  anyone  was  within  miles  of  them. 
We  saw  'em  raise  up  a  big  flat  rock  and  then  another  and  still 
another  rock,  until  they  had  removed  several.  When  they 
had  cleaned  out  the  dirt  and  rubbish  from  the  hole  this  left, 
they  began  to  work  with  hammers  and  chisels,  cutting  away 


28 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

great  chunks  of  some  soft  metal  which  we  thought  was  lead. 
They  worked  steady  for  several  hours  and  when  they  had 
removed  abaout  as  much  as  they  could  carry,  they  carefully 
replaced  the  stones  as  they  were  and  filled  the  cracks  with 
dirt,  so's  no  one  could  tell  the  rocks  had  ever  been  lifted. 

"We  follered  them  when  they  carried  the  metal  to  their 
camp,  but  kep'  well  hid  in  the  brush.  We  saw  'em  build 
iup  a  hot  fire  and  when  they  had  a  nice  bed  of  coals,  they  put 
a  ladle  full  of  this  metal  on  'em  and  melted  it  down.  It 
looked  white,  like  silver.  We  saw  them  pour  it  into  molds 
that  had  already  been  prepared,  and  lo !  and  behold,  in  a  few 
minutes  out  came  a  lot  o'  bright  new  silver  dollars ! 

"  'Fur  an  ould  lemon  peel,  I'd  go  afther  thim  and  hould 
thim  wid  me  two  hands  fur  the  perlice,'  said  Mike.  'Shure 
and  ain't  they  counterfeiters?  Faith  an'  Uncle  Sam  would 
be  afther  payin'  me  well  fur  purifyin'  his  money  bag.' 

"  'Lay  low  an'  keep  still,'  said  I.  'Those  fellows  must  be 
the  Brookshires,  and  every  one  of  'em  is  a  dead  sartin  crack 
shot.  You  know  how  many  United  States  Marshals  they  have 
killed.  We  won't  risk  our  necks  try  in'  to  capture  them.  We 
will  jist  wait  till  dark  and  then  git  out  o'  here.  We've  found 
their  mine,  anyhow,  and  that's  more'n  anyone  else  has  done. 
We  kin  come  back  here  and  open  it  up  after  they're  gone. 
That  must  be  a  purty  rich  silver  lead  there,  fur  those  Brook- 
shire  silver  dollars  are  very  pure,  in  fact,  they  have  more 
silver  in  'em  than  the  government  dollars.' 

"Well,  sir,  those  fellers  turned  out  dollar  after  dollar,  all 
that  afternoon,  'til  the  ground  was  jist  covered  with  'em. 
Then  they  put  'em  all  into  sacks,  destroyed  all  evidence  of 
the  fire  and  covered  the  place  with  leaves.  Jist  at  dusk  they 
packed  their  belongin's  on  their  mules  an'  started  out,  fur 
they  come  in  the  night  and  now  they  were  returning  in  the 
night  with  their  cargo  o'  silver  dollars. 

"All  this  happened  in  the  late  Fall.     Winter  soon  set  in, 


AROUND  THE  CAMPFIRE 29 

and  so  when  Spring  came  we  thought  we'd  go  back  and 
uncover  the  mine,  fur  we  had  heard  rumors  that  all  the 
Brookshires  had  either  been  captured,  killed,  or  run  out'n 
the  country  by  the  Government  officials.  We  tried  to  git  in 
there  a  number  o'  times,  but  was  always  turned  back  by  some 
one  with  a  gun.  The  last  time,  a  shot  came  so  clost  to  my 
head  that  I  had  no  more  desire  to  look  for  the  Brookshire 
mine,  and  we  were  told  that  if  we  were  ever  caught  in  there 
again  they  would  shoot  us  on  the  spot."  As  "Old  Missouri" 
concluded  his  story  he  struck  another  match  and  relighted 
his  pipe,  which  had  gone  out  while  he  talked. 

This  was  a  very  interesting  story,  but  no  one  believed  it. 
They  just  passed  it  up  as  another  one  of  his  stock  of  adven 
tures.  Everyone  had  heard  something  of  the  famous  old 
Brookshire  mine  and  the  silver  dollars  they  had  coined.  No 
one  .had  ever  been  able  to  find  it,  although  many  efforts  were 
made  and  several  supposed  guide  markings  were  furnished, 
but  the  mine  still  remains  a  mystery. 

"Now  we'll  take  some  of  that  there  coffee,  captain,"  said 
"Missouri,"  who  had  had  his  eye  on  the  kettle  for  a  long 
time. 

"Not  yet,"  retorted  Winters,  "I  was  just  in  hopes  that 
someone  would  move  to  express  our  thanks  and  entire  satis 
faction  with  Captain  Henry  Manning  for  his  faithful  services 
as  captain  of  this  caravan  across  the  plains.  No  man  could 
have  done  it  better.  Some  of  us  thought  at  times  that  he 
was  imposing  unnecessary  hardships  upon  us,  but  now  we 
can  see  his  wisdom  and  know  we  were  often  in  the  wrong 
and  not  he.  He  was  doing  it  for  our  protection  and  safety, 
and  now,  everyone  who  feels  that  Henry  Manning  is  worthy 
of  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  faithful  services  and  guidance 
during  these  strenuous  days  that  are  past,  make  it  known  by 
giving  three  cheers  for  Manning." 

The  three  cheers  were  so  hearty  and  unanimous  that  the 
air  was  made  to  ring  with  their  sound. 


30 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Now  we'd  like  to  hear  a  word  from  the  hero  of  this 
morning's  battle  with  the  cougars,"  continued  Winters,  smil 
ing  at  Lew.  "While  but  a  boy  of  fifteen,  yet  in  bravery  and 
nerve  and  stability  he  is  equal  to  any  of  us.  Mark  what  I 
tell  you,  this  boy  will  be  able  to  make  a  good  record  for 
himself  with  such  a  promising  beginning,  if  nothing  comes 
up  to  mar  his  life.  Come,  Lew,  tell  us  how  you  did  it."  They 
all  clapped  their  hands  and  called  for  Lew  to  tell  them  the 
story. 

With  some  reluctance  Lew  Manning  stood  up  and  tried 
to  speak,  but  it  was  his  first  attempt  at  anything  of  the  kind 
and  he  hardly  knew  how  to  begin.  Finally  he  managed  to 
say,  "I  did  it  with  my  rifle,  or  rather  with  daddy's  rifle  and 
mine.  I  was  not  a  bit  afraid  of  the  lions,  but  rather  enjoyed 
the  fun.  My  thoughts  were  all  on  the  lion.  I  never  once 
thought  but  that  Bobbie  would  be  all  right,  but  I  guess  daddy 
thought  more  of  Bobbie's  safety  than  he  did  of  killing  the 
lion,  and  that  was  what  caused  him  to  lose  his  nerve,"  and 
he  sat  down  quickly  and  confusedly,  for  they  were  all  cheer 
ing  him  for  his  bravery. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Manning  was  pouring  the  coffee  and 
they  were  all  enjoying  it,  as  it  was  the  first  they  had  drank 
for  a  week.  Just  as  they  were  about  to  adjourn  for  the 
night,  several  revolver  shots  rang  out  in  the  direction  of  the 
saloon  and  gambling  hall  not  far  distant.  Marshal  Bass, 
jumping  to  ,his  feet,  gave  orders  that  every  man  go  to  his 
own  tent. 

"Robbers  are  raiding  the  camp,"  he  said.  "You  people 
stay  in  your  own  tents,  but  have  your  guns  ready  for  your 
own  protection.  They  may  not  bother  you,  but  you  must 
be  prepared  if  they  do,"  and  away  he  ran  to  the  scene  of  the 
trouble. 


CHAPTER  III 

SHALL  IT.  BE  CRIME  OR  JUSTICE? 

Robberies  and  hold-ups  were  not  uncommon  in  the  early 
days  of  California.  There  were  all  classes  of  men  upon  the 
coast,  and  some  of  them  were  there  purposely  to  prey  upon 
others.  Many  times  when  it  became  known  that  there  was 
going  to  be  a  "cleanup"  at  some  of  the  "diggin's,"  there  was 
likely  to  be  some  gunman  ready  and  waiting  to  waylay  the 
superintendent  as  he  took  the  gold  either  to  the  bank  or 
express  office. 

In  short,  there  were  men  of  every  description  scattered 
all  over  the  surrounding  country,  mining  wherever  they 
could  find  "pay-dirt,"  which  was  usually  wherever  gravel 
beds  were  found.  Not  only  were  there  miners,  but  men  fol 
lowing  every  line,  of  business  necessary  to  furnish  supplies 
and  accommodations  for  active  mining.  It  was  not  uncom 
mon  to  find  a  store,  or  a  saloon,  or  an  inn,  perched  far  up 
some  mountain-side,  miles  away  from  any  town  or  settlement. 

Sometimes  good,  honest  people  conducted  these  places, 
but  often  there  were  men  of  very  base  motives  in  charge. 
Bands  of  robbers  would  sometimes  work  in  connection  with 
these  inn-keepers  to  prey  upon  those  who  had  been  fortu 
nate  enough  to  make  a  strike  and  were  trying  to  get  out  with 
their  "cleanup."  Many  of  the  old  timers  tell  us  of  certain 
"wayside-inns"  at  which  many  men,  who  had  been  in  the 
hills,  made  their  "cleanup"  and  were  returning  to  civiliza 
tion  with  their  gold,  were  known  to  have  stopped  at  some 
of  these  places,  and  were  never  heard  of  again.  If  it  be 
came  known  that  they  had  gold,  they  were  usually  robbed 
or  killed  during  the  night,  or  sometimes  robbers  lay  in  wait 
for  them  along  their  way  the  next  day.  Thus  it  often  hap- 

31 


33 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

pened  that  many  men  were  never  heard  of  again.  There 
was  not  much  attention  paid  to  their  being  missed,  if  any. 
They  were  supposed  to  have  left  the  country  for  their  homes 
in  the  "states,"  besides  they  had  no  friends  in  this  new 
country  to  look  for  them  and  strangers  did  not  care. 

Thus  a  peculiar  situation  presented  itself.  Everybody 
was  after  a  fortune.  They  were  here  for  that  purpose,  and 
yet  it  was  not  safe  to  have  one  in  their  possession.  Saloons, 
stores,  and  banks  were  held  up  and  robbed.  Stage  coaches 
and  freighters  were  plundered.  The  superintendent  of  a 
mine  was  taking  a  great  risk  when  "cleanup"  time  came, 
unless  he  had  an  armed  guard  to  accompany  him  with  his 
treasure  to  the  bank.  It  grew  from  bad  to  worse,  until  the 
famous  "vigilant  law"  was  put  into  force  by  the  people  of 
California,  without  the  aid  of  the  legislature.  Men  who 
were  caught  robbing  and  plundering  were  hung  upon  the 
first  tree  that  could  be  found.  Every  man  who  believed  in 
law  and  order  was  supposed  to  belong  to  the  "vigilant  com 
mittee,"  to  help  rid  the  country  of  the  plundering  classes. 
There  was  soon  less  horse  stealing,  hold-ups  and  stage  rob 
beries  became  less  frequent,  for  many  of  their  most  active 
members  were  found  hanging  to  trees.  It  was  a  rude  way, 
perhaps,  to  break  up  an  evil,  but  it  preserved  order  to  a  cer 
tain  extent.  True,  there  may  have  been  innocent  men  who 
suffered  without  a  trial,  but  it  was  generally  agreed  that  the 
committee  was  pretty  sure  of  their  man  before  justice  was 
meted  out  to  him. 

Perhaps  if  the  truth  were  known,  a  miscarriage  of  jus 
tice  was  not  as  common  then  as  it  is  in  this  day,  with  all 
our  laws,  lawyers,  and  jury  trials.  Nowadays,  justice  is 
often  set  aside  upon  mere  technicalities,  or  through  the  un- 
scrupulousness  of  lawyers,  who  bulldoze  their  cases  through 
and  turn  loose  vicious  men,  who  are  as  guilty  as  the  devil 
ever  made  them.  In  order  that  some  lawyer  may  win  fame 


SHALL  IT  BE  CRIME  OR  JUSTICE?  33 

for  himself,  juries  are  sometimes  bribed,  and  the  criminal 
turned  loose  to  prey  upon  some  other  unsuspecting  man. 

Capital  punishment,  quickly  meted  out  to  red-handed 
criminals,  is  the  only  club  that  will  ever  successfully  lessen 
crime.  The  fear  of  punishment  is  the  only  thing  that  makes 
it  safe  for  our  wives  and  daughters  to  appear  upon  the 
streets,  or  for  us  to  sleep  in  our  homes  at  night  unmolested. 
More  lenient  laws  may  serve  the  purpose  in  some .  localities, 
where  heartless  wretches  lay  in  wait  for  the  unsuspecting, 
but  not  in  the  far  west. 

I  am  convinced  that  in  many  places  the  pardon  and 
parole  are  used  too  freely  for  the  good  of  law-abiding  peo 
ple.  True,  an  innocent  man  may  suffer  occasionally,  but 
what  of  the  poor  innocent  men  murdered,  or  the  virtuous 
woman  outraged  by  some  hardened  criminal  who  is  par 
doned  by  some  chicken-hearted  governor?  But  few  men 
sent  to  prison  for  red-handed  crime  ever  become  useful 
citizens,  even  if  pardoned.  They  usually  return  to  their 
old  haunts  and  life,  which  is  worse  than  if  justice  had  been 
meted  out  by  the  law  in  the  first  place.  God  pity  some  peo 
ple  whose  actions  and  teachings  only  have  a  tendency  to 
encourage  crime  by  taking  away  the  sting.  What  if  the 
criminal  came  to  your  home?  Would  you  want  him  pun 
ished  if  he  murdered  some  member  of  your  family,  or  ruined 
your  daughter? 

No,  the  people  of  California  are  not  all  crooks,  but  there 
was  a  time  when  things  were  bad  in  that  state.  Men  be 
came  evil  in  their  actions  and  dealings  in  the  large  cities 
of  the  eastern  and  central  states,  and  when  they  could  oper 
ate  at  home  no  longer  without  being  caught,  they  selected 
the  west  as  a  fruitful  field  for  a  new  location  to  continue 
their  devilish  work,  until  the  stringent  laws  made  it  un 
healthy  for  them  to  operate  longer  in  an  open  handed  way. 


34 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

In  later  years,  the  fine  climate,  productive  lands,  and  un 
limited  resources  for  business  and  money  making,  have  at 
tracted  the  better  classes  to  the  coast,  until  now  the  state 
is  well  populated  with  the  choicest  people  of  the  nation.  It 
has  gone  ahead  until  it  is  now  leading  in  all  lines  of  reform, 
as  well  as  in  education  and  business  enterprises. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS. 

The  next  morning,  somewhat  earlier  than  usual,  there 
was  a  stir  among  the  Manning  campers.  They  had  reached 
their  goal,  the  place  they  had  thought  of,  read  of,  and 
dreamed  of  for  months  past,  and  where  they  expected  to 
make  their  fortunes.  They  had  never  dreamed  that  more 
hardships  were  to  confront  them,  but  supposed  when  the 
plains  were  crossed  their  trials  were  at  an  end  and  that  soon 
they  could  return  to  the  "states"  with  their  fortunes.  How 
ever,  Mr.  Bass  had  given  them  a  new  version  of  life  in  this 
western  country.  They  now  realized  that  their  struggles 
were  just  beginning;  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  them  to 
be  more  cautious  and  more  on  their  guard  than  when  cross 
ing  the  plains,  where  the  Indians  had  been  so  troublesome, 
if  they  were  to  retain  the  wealth  which  they  had  traveled 
so  far  to  accumulate. 

Mr.  Winters,  who  always  camped  near  Captain  Manning, 
came  over  to  the  latter's  wagon,  and  said,  "Captain,  I  in 
timated  to  you  last  night  that  I  wanted  to  investigate  the 
various  camps  around  here  and  that  I  would  be  back  within 
a  week  with  some  plan  outlined  for  co-operation  in  our  ad 
ventures.  I  have  studied  the  map  of  this  county  well,  and 
know  just  where  each  mining  camp  is  located.  You  see  I 
have  dressed  in  my  miner's  outfit  this  morning,  for  I  am  go 
ing  to  start  on  my  journey.  But  what  I  came  over  to  say, 
Captain,  was  this:  Little  Myrtle,  being  motherless  now, 
cannot  stay  alone,  neither  can  I  take  her  with  me  on  my 
rounds,  but  I  was  thinking  that  as  we  have  been  such  close 
friends  all  the  way  out  here  that  perhaps  you  might  not  ob 
ject  to  my  leaving  her  here  with  you  until  I  get  back.  I 

35 


36 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

understand  that  you  intend  to  remain  here  for  a  time  at 
least,  until  you  can  get  settled  on  some  property  of  your 
own  near  here.  Would  it  be  imposing  too  much  on  you? 
I  thought  she  might  be  company  for  your  wife  and  boys 
when  we  are  both  away,"  and  he  waited  anxiously  for  Man 
ning's  reply. 

"I  was  just  going  to  suggest  that  myself,"  said  Manning, 
heartily.  "Wife  and  I  talked  it  over  last  evening  before  we 
went  to  sleep,  and  nothing  could  please  us  more  than  to  have 
Myrtle  stay  with  us." 

"Thank  you,  Captain,  you  will  not  lose  anything  by  your 
kindness  to  my  little  girl.  It  was  hard  for  her  to  give  up 
her  mother,  but  I  know  she  will  find  a  second  one  in  your 
good  wife.  Now,  I  am  off.  You  gather  all  the  informa 
tion  you  can  about  this  camp  and  the  surrounding  coun 
try,  and  I  will  tell  you  of  my  findings  in  the  other  camps 
which  I  expect  to  visit  in  the  next  few  days.  Let  us  hope 
that  we  may  be  as  fortunate  as  many  others  who  have  been 
here  and  mined  their  millions  in  gold.  It  is  not  all  gone 
yet.  I  gathered  from  what  Marshal  Bass  said  last  night, 
that  there  are  fellows  here  who  have  good  claims,  and  who 
will  sell  out  cheap  because  they  need  the  money.  There 
ought  to  be  a  good  chance  for  us  here.  We  must  keep  our 
eyes  open  for  something  good,  and  if  it  becomes  necessary 
to  part  with  some  of  our  'greenbacks'  to  buy  a  claim,  should 
we  not  find  anything  better,  I  promise  you  that  for  your 
kindness  to  me,  you  shall  have  a  chance  to  go  in  with  me 
on  anything  that  comes  our  way." 

Manning  listened  closely  to  all  Winters  had  to  say,  and 
then  said  heartily  as  he  extended  his  hand,  "The  same  here, 
Jack.  I  have  known  you  for  a  long  time  and  know  that 
you  are  every  whit  a  man,  and  as  good  as  our  old  state  of 
Missouri  ever  produced.  Now,  good  luck  to  you,  and  don't 
forget  the  warnings  just  given  by  Mr.  Bass.  We  will  look 
for  you  back  by  next  Wednesday." 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  37 

Winters  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off,  and  a  little  later 
Myrtle  made  her  appearance  at  the  Mannings'  tent. 

"Papa  said  I  could  stay  with  you  while  he  was  gone," 
said  the  little  girl  to  her  friends.  She  was  just  passed  thir 
teen  years  of  age,  and  the  same  age  as  Robert  Manning,  the 
younger  of  the  two  boys,  a  plump  little  girl  with  blue  eyes 
and  golden  hair  which  hung  in  clusters  of  curls  all  over  her 
head. 

"I'm  glad,  Myrtle,  ain't  you?"  asked  Lew,  for  he  was 
very  fond  of  her. 

"Yes,  my  papa  likes  you'ns,  and  I  like  you  and  Bobbie, 
too.  My  papa  says  you  are  a  good  boy  and  going  to  be  a 
big  man,  and  that  the  world  will  hear  from  you,"  she  said 
innocently,  which  greatly  amused  the  others. 

"What  makes  him  think  so?"  asked  Lew,  curiously. 

"Oh,  he  says  you  don't  play  mean  tricks  like  most  boys, 
and  are  all  the  time  trying  to  help  someone.  He  says  kind 
ness  is  the  first  step  to  greatness,"  answered  Myrtle,  nodding 
her  head  solemnly. 

Lew  was  silent,  thinking  this  over,  but  after  a  while  he 
said :  "Well,  I  never  thought  of  it  that  way,  and  I  do  like 
to  play  tricks  sometimes,  too,  but  I  never  try  to  play  them 
on  innocent  people,  only  on  boys  who  play  tricks  on  girls, 
or  get  smart  with  older  people.  On  our  way  out  here  we 
didn't  have  any  bad  boys  in  our  crowd  and  I  couldn't  help 
being  good.  I  don't  deserve  any  credit  for  that  kind  of 
goodness,  do  I?"  he  asked,  to  see  what  she  would  say,  for 
he  was  anxious  that  she  should  think  well  of  him. 

"Papa  says  you  do,  and  he  knows.  I  wish  I  was  a  boy 
so  I  could  help  you  when  I  get  bigger.  I  like  you  and  Bobbie, 
too." 

"I  think  you  can  help  me  more  as  a  girl,  for  my  mother 
likes  you  and  says  you  are  a  good  girl,"  said  Lew,  and  his 
heart  welled  with  love  for  the  child.  "We  will  be  good 


38 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

friends  anyhow  now,  and  see  what  we  will  be  and  can  do 
later  on.  I  said  when  your  mother  died,  Myrtle,  that  I  would 
always  be  good  and  kind  to  you,  for  I  love  my  mother,  and 
I  know  how  I  would  miss  her  if  she  was  gone.  You  can 
have  anything  we  have,  Myrtle,  and  I  won't  get  angry  with 
you  over  anything,"  and  he  put  his  arms  around  her  and 
kissed  her  affectionately. 

Here  were  two  young  people,  one  fifteen  and  the  other 
thirteen  years  of  age,  who  had  never  met  until  the  train 
was  formed  at  Kansas  City,  some  six  months  before,  but 
whose  friendship  had  grown  from  that  day  on  until  they 
were  almost  what  one  would  call  lovers  in  older  people,  but 
such  thoughts  had  never,  until  now,  entered  their  minds. 
They  had  just  been  true  friends,  but  were  in  danger  of  be 
coming  more  to  each  other  as  they  grew  older. 

The  next  few  days,  Henry  Manning,  in  company  with 
John  Sprouls,  spent  much  time  in  studying  mining  methods 
at  Dutch  Flat,  Red  Dog,  and  You  Bet  mines.  Here  mining 
by  the  hydraulic  process  was  in  full  operation.  In  every 
place  they  were  rushing  the  work  to  its  fullest  capacity.  It 
was  marvelous  to  the  newcomers  to  see  the  mighty  streams 
of  water  from  the  "giants"  eating  away  the  great  gravel 
banks,  some  of  them  more  than  two  hundred  feet  high.  It 
was  stranger  still  to  see  hundreds  of  acres  of  this  land 
washed  away,  no  one  knew  where.  Hundreds  of  millions 
of  tons  of  sand  and  small  rock  would  gradually  disappear. 
Not  a  thing  remained  but  the  bare  rock,  with  now  and  then 
piles  of  big  boulders,  too  large  to  float,  which  had  been  rolled 
aside  out  of  the  way.  Where  could  all  this  dirt  go  to  so 
quickly?  No  teams  or  wagons  were  hauling  it  away,  yet 
it  was  disappearing.  All  one  could  see  were  the  great  mon 
itors  spitting  forth  the  mighty  stream  of  water  against  the 
gravel  banks  with  its  never  ceasing  roar,  the  banks  giving 
way  under  its  tremendous  power,  and  the  dirty  streams  of 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  39 

water  running  down  the  sluiceways.  Here,  too,  were  an 
army  of  men,  each  doing  his  work  like  a  part  of  some  great 
machine. 

For  three  days  Henry  Manning  and  his  companions  had 
searched  these  mining  camps  for  gold  and  everybody  was 
talking  about  how  rich  and  productive  they  were,  but  not  a 
nugget  had  been  found  by  one  of  the  newcomers. 

At  last  Sprouls  became  impatient  and  said,  "To  hell  with 
a  minin'  camp  like  this.  They  talk  about  it  being  rich,  but 
I  haven't  seen  any  gold  yet,  and  I've  been  here  three  days 
now.  I  supposed  we  could  find  it  on  the  ground  anywhere, 
judgin'  from  the  reports  we  received  from  this  country  for 
the  last  year  or  two.  I  think  we'd  better  move  to  some  other 
place,  for  it  don't  look  like  very  good  pickin'  here.  This 
ground  has  all  been  worked  over,  or  else  there's  no  gold  in 
it,"  and  he  gave  an  impatient  tug  at  his  beard. 

Manning  was  much  amused  at  this,  and  he  asked,  "What 
do  you  think  those  men  are  doing  there  in  the  gravel  pits 
if  there  is  no  gold  in  there?" 

"I  don't  know.  They  may  know  their  business,  but  I  was 
down  in  that  pit  there  and  looked  all  over  the  bottom,  and 
I  never  saw  a  sign  of  gold,"  replied  Sprouls,  puffing  hard  on 
his  old  pipe. 

"Perhaps  you  wouldn't  know  it  if  you  saw  it,"  retorted 
Manning.  "You  won't  find  it  under  three  big  rocks,  in 
a  solid  mass,  like  the  silver  in  the  old  Brookshire  mine  in 
Missouri.  It  comes  different  and  looks  different  here." 

Sprouls  smiled,  for  he  knew  Manning  was  making  fun 
of  his  Missouri  story. 

"I  suppose  so,"  he  said,  "but  if  there  was  any  gold  worth 
saving  here  it  looks  like  some  of  it  could  be  seen." 

"Just  wait  a  few  days,  Sprouls,  and  they  will  make  a 
cleanup,"  the  other  replied.  "I'll  bet  my  hat  you'll  see  more 
gold  than  you  ever  saw  in  all  your  life  before.  Mr.  Bass 


40 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

said  the  cleanup  was  due  now,  but  could  not  be  undertaken 
until  the  general  manager  of  this  company  arrived  from 
the  city,  with  his  armed  guard.  They  are  expecting  him 
in  here  now  at  any  time.  That  shot  we  heard  the  night  we 
came  was  fired  by  a  band  of  robbers  who  were  holding  up 
the  saloon.  They  thought  the  cleanup  had  taken  place 
already,  and  when  they  got  here  and  found  it  had  not,  they 
were  so  indignant  that  they  robbed  the  saloon  and  gambling 
hall  instead,  and  made  good  their  escape  with  all  the  swag." 

"Missouri"  jerked  out  his  six-shooter,  and  said  boast- 
ingly,  "Wasn't  anyone  present  with  a  gun  to  stop  'em,  or 
were  they  all  lacking  in  nerve?  If  I'd  'a  been  there,  there'd 
'a  been  something  doing  on  the  other  side,"  flourishing  his 
pistol. 

Manning  laughed  heartily,  and  said,  "Exactly  so,  John, 
and  that  would  have  been  you,  going  out  the  back  door, 
if  you  had  not  been  too  scared  to  move.  If  you  ever  pull 
a  gun  on  one  of  those  fellows,  you  want  to  tell  your  mother 
good-by  beforehand,  for  it  would  be  too  late  then.  You 
would  probably  be  in  the  same  place  as  the  two  men  who 
did  pull  their  guns  last  night.  They  were  carried  out  and 
buried  on  the  hillside  the  next  day.  Believe  me,  if  those 
fellows  ever  tell  you  to  put  your  little  mitts  up,  you  better  not 
argue  the  case,  or  there  is  likely  to  be  a  strange  face  in 
heaven." 

Manning  suddenly  stopped  talking,  and  holding  his  hand 
to  his  ear,  said,  "Hark !  I  hear  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs 
coming  up  the  beaten  roadway.  There  seems  to  be  several 
of  them.  If  we  weren't  in  camp,  I'd  think  it  was  the  Indians 
coming  again.  It  might  be  a  gang  of  those  pesky  robbers." 

This  was  too  much  for  Sprouls,  who  began  to  tremble 
at  the  thought,  and  reached  for  his  gun  with  one  hand  while 
he  pulled  nervously  at  his  beard  with  the  other. 

"None  of  that,"  cried  Manning.  "Leave  your  gun  where 
it  is,  until  I  tell  you  to  take  it  out." 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  41 

Just  then  five  men  on  horseback  wheeled  into  sight,  four 
of  whom  carried  rifles  on  their  shoulders  and  pistols  at  their 
sides.  They  all  rode  straight  for  the  mining  company's 
office,  and,  dismounting,  hitched  their  horses  and  went  in. 

While  the  two  men  were  wondering  who  the  newcomers 
could  be  and  what  they  were  after,  they  heard  the  sound  of 
someone  pounding  on  the  rock  on  the  side  of  the  gravel  pit, 
just  opposite  the  present  workings.  They  looked  up  and  saw 
a  man  beckoning  to  them.  Up  to  this  time,  the  men  work 
ing  at  the  mine  had  been  somewhat  shy  of  the  new  arrivals, 
but  this  was  the  company's  engineer,  a  geologist,  who  was 
in  charge  of  the  diggings.  He  was  trying  to  measure  up 
the  yardage  of  gravel  yet  in  the  great  bank.  His  helper  had 
been  called  away  and  he  was  trying  to  do  the  work  alone, 
but  as  the  banks  were  steep  and  high,  he  had  found  he  could 
not  handle  the  chain  by  himself.  At  his  summons,  Manning 
and  Sprouls  walked  over  towards  him. 

"Do  you  men  want  to  work?"  .he  asked,  as  they  ap 
proached,  Sprouls  very  much  scared  for  fear  they  were 
trespassing,  and  carrying  his  broad  rimmed  hat  in  his  hand 
as  he  usually  did  when  excited. 

"Not  exactly,"  replied  Manning,  "but  if  we  can  be  of  any 
help  to  you  we  are  at  your  service,  sir,"  in  the  friendly  spirit 
you  will  find  in  most  Missourians. 

"Thank  you.  Take  hold  and  assist  me  and  I  will  allow 
you  for  a  day's  work.  I  thought  I  had  plenty  of  time  for 
this  survey,  so  I  let  my  helper  go  to  help  with  another 
job,  and  now  that  the  General  Manager  has  come  I  am  likely 
to  be  called  at  any  time,  and  I  must  have  these  figures  ready 
for  him  to  take  back  to  the  city  with  him. 

"We're  'Johnny  on  the  spot,'  sir,"  said  Sprouls,  putting 
his  hat  back  on  his  head,  and  feeling  better.  "Six  months 
on  the  plains  has  taught  us  never  to  forsake  a  man  in  a  tight 
place,  and  in  handlin'  a  chain  I  am  right  at  home,"  refilling 
his  pipe  for  a  smoke. 


43 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Here  was  the  chance  they  were  wishing  for.  They  wanted 
to  learn  more  •  about  this  new  country,  more  about  these 
strange  gold  mines,  which  appeared  to  them  to  be  more  min 
ing  than  gold.  This  geologist  was  the  man  who  ought  to  be 
able  to  give  them  the  most  reliable  information  obtainable. 

"What  makes  you  so  nervous?"  asked  the  surveyor  of 
Sprouls. 

"Oh,  I'm  not  nervous,"  was  the  reply,  while  an  unnatural 
grin  passed  over  his  face,  and  he  began  to  stroke  his  beard 
again. 

"I  know  what's  the  matter  with  him,"  said  Manning, 
banteringly.  "He  saw  some  armed  men  rush  up  and  tie  their 
horses  in  front  of  the  company's  office,  and  walk  in.  He 
is  expecting  to  hear  some  shooting." 

The  other  laughed,  and  said,  "Not  at  all,  sir.  Those  men 
will  not  shoot  except  to  preserve  law  and  order,  and  in  self- 
defense.  They  are  a  part  of  the  great  vigilance  committee 
of  this  state,  and  are  hired  by  the  mine  owners  of  this  sec 
tion  to  guard  the  mines  during  the  cleanups.  And  let  me 
tell  you,  no  one  fools  with  that  bunch.  They  have  William 
Tell  beat  a  mile  when  it  comes  to  shooting.  Anyone  of  those 
fellows  can  shoot  an  apple  off  your  head  as  far  as  they  can 
see  it.  A  coyote  on  the  run,  or  a  crow  on  the  wing,  drops 
to  the  ground  when  their  guns  talk." 

"That  beats  your  shooting  lions  in  Missouri,  Sprouls," 
said  Manning  laughingly. 

"Oh,  it's  easy  to  say  what  a  man  can  do,  but  you  know 
where  I'm  from,"  said  Sprouls.  Turning  to  the  engineer, 
he  asked : 

"But  why  are  those  men  here  now?" 

"It's  time  for  our  cleanup,"  he  replied.  "This  mine  has 
been  running  now  for  twenty-six  days  without  a  cleanup. 
We  were  not  expecting  the  men  till  Monday,  but  they  are 
two  days  ahead  of  time.  That  is  why  I  am  behind  in  my 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  43 

work  here."  Then  giving  the  men  a  chain,  he  said, 
"Be  careful  now  how  you  handle  this.  A  link  makes  a  lot 
of  difference  in  the  measurement  of  a  steep  bank  like  this." 

Sprouls  took  the  chain,  and  climbing  over  the  bank,  said, 
"Sure,  this  is  different  from  the  surveying  we  did  in  Old 
Missouri,  but  as  soon  as  I  git  onto  it  I  can  do  the  work  all 
right.  Tell  me  about  this  here  gravel  bed.  Is  there  any 
gold  in  it?"  determined  to  find  out  the  truth  about  these 
mines. 

"What  do  you  suppose  we  are  doing  here?"  retorted  the 
surveyor,  "working  for  the  fun  of  it?"  His  voice  was  high 
and  squeaky,  and  Sprouls,  startled,  replied  quickly : 

"No,  but  I've  been  here  several  days,  and  I  haven't  seen 
a  speck  of  gold  yet.  I  supposed  it  was  plentiful  from  what 
we  heard  before  we  left  the  'states.' " 

The  surveyor  laughed.  It  was  the  usual  story  from  ten- 
derfeet. 

"You  don't  know  how  to  look  for  it  or  you  would  have 
seen  gold  before  this,"  he  said.  "You  see  this  pit,  and  the 
acres  of  ground  here  that  we  have  piped  off,  don't  you?" 

"Yes,  but  what  of  that?"  queried  Missouri,  still  doubting. 

"Well,  we  have  recovered  something  like  three  millions 
of  dollars  in  gold  from  this  very  spot,"  said  the  surveyor  with 
an  air  of  satisfaction,  "and  there  is  fully  as  much  more  here. 
That's  why  I'm  making  this  survey.  There  is  trouble  brew 
ing  for  the  owners  and  we  may  have  to  close  down  this  busi 
ness  any  time  now." 

"Missouri's"  mouth  was  open  and  his  eyes  were  bulging 
as  he  heard  the  engineer  make  this  statement.  Finally  he 
shook  his  head  perplexedly,  and  went  on  with  his  work.  At 
length  Manning  asked : 

"What  kind  of  trouble?" 

"Well,  you  see  there  has  been  an  awful  lot  of  fuss  made 
about  this  kind  of  mining  by  the  farmers  and  people  inter- 


44 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

ested  in  the  navigation  of  the  rivers  down  in  the  valley, 
and  even  in  the  city  the  people  are  frightened,  for  they  think 
this  sediment  which  we  are  washing  away  will  fill  up  the 
bay  at  San  Francisco.  Even  now  they  have  a  court  injunc 
tion  pending  to  stop  us,  and  they  have  applied  to  the  U.  S. 
Government,  also." 

"If  this  kind  of  mining  is  stopped,  is  there  not  some  other 
way  by  which  the  gold  could  be  recovered?"  asked  Manning, 
for  he  wanted  to  learn  all  he  could  about  the  different  ways 
of  mining. 

"Part  of  it  might  be,  but  the  main  part  could  never  be 
recovered,  as  much  of  this  gravel  is  not  rich  enough  to  pay 
to  work  it  any  other  way.  Lots  of  this  gravel  will  not  make 
over  five  to  ten  cents  per  square  yard,  and  who  would  pan 
out  a  yard  of  this  gravel  for  ten  cents?  Of  course,  the 
coarser  gravel  near  the  bedrock  is  much  richer,  often  mak 
ing  as  high  as  from  five  to  twenty  dollars  per  yard,  and  tak 
ing  it  altogether,  it  can  be  piped  away  quite  profitably.  Then 
you  must  remember  that  it  is  a  costly  business  to  fix  up  for 
hydraulic  mining.  To  get  started  in  this  one  mine,  we  had 
to  go  to  an  expense  of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars,  and  if  they  stop  us  that  money  is  all  lost."  He  halted, 
to  mark  down  the  chaining  just  made. 

"Why  does  it  cost  so  all-fired  much?"  inquired  Sprouls, 
who  had  been  listening  to  all  this  interestedly. 

"You  see,  it  takes  water  under  high  pressure  to  operate 
one  of  these  monitors,  and  lots  of  it,  and  such  water  is  not 
available  here.  We  have  to  go  away  up  in  the  mountains 
several  miles  back,  and  build  a  flume  or  ditch  to  convey  the 
water  to  the  works  here,  and  that  is  a  costly  business. 
Usually  the  water  is  brought  down  in  open  ditches  until  the 
drop  is  only  about  three  hundred  feet  vertical,  above  the 
mine.  We  convey  it  from  there  in  steel  pipes  to  the  monitors 
to  give  it  the  necessary  pressure.  Some  of  these  pipes  are 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  45 

twenty-two  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  pressure  is  further 
increased  by  discharging  it  from  the  'giants'  with  nozzles 
reduced  to  four  to  nine  inches.  With  such  pressure,  the 
water  can  be  easily  thrown  five  hundred  feet,  and  that  is 
why  it  eats  its  way  through  the  gravel  beds  so  rapidly." 

Just  then  they  heard  the  sound  of  dogs  growling  and 
snapping,  and  looking  up  they  saw  that  a  fight  was  in  prog 
ress  in  front  of  the  company's  office,  between  the  dog  which 
had  come  with  the  guards,  and  a  strange  dog  from  the 
camp.  Before  anyone  could  separate  them,  they  were  under 
the  horses'  feet,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it,  one 
of  the  horses,  becoming  frightened,  broke  loose  and  went 
racing  madly  into  the  gravel  pit.  In  an  instant  it  had  dashed 
in  front  of  the  "giant"  spitting  a  five-inch  stream  of  water 
under  a  three  hundred  pound  pressure.  The  stream  hit  the 
horse  broadside,  and  over  he  went  into  the  ditch. 

The  engineer,  seeing  this,  said,  "That  means  good-by, 
horse,"  and  turned  again  to  his  work,  but  not  so  with  the  others. 
They  wanted  to  see  the  outcome  of  the  accident. 

"Did  it  hurt  .him  much?"  asked  Sprouls,  puffing  on  his 
pipe  excitedly,  as  he  saw  that  the  horse  did  not  arise. 

"Hurt  him?  You  might  just  as  well  have  shot  him  with 
a  cannon  ball.  He  never  knew  what  hit  him.  Nothing  can 
live  that  gets  in  front  of  that  stream  of  water.  It  would 
floor  an  elephant,"  said  the  surveyor. 

"As  I  was  saying,"  he  continued,  "if  they  stop  us  now, 
we  will  lose  all  the  money  we  have  in  this  water  system, 
and  also  the  machinery ;  besides,  there  are  millions  in  gold  in 
these  gravel  beds  which  will  never  be  recovered.  Maybe 
I  look  at  it  from  a  selfish  standpoint,  but  the  gold  in  these 
hills  is  worth  far  more  than  all  the  steamboats,  rivers,  and 
even  more  than  the  bay  at  Frisco.  I  presume  those  people 
who  are  not  interested  in  mining,  and  who  own  the  lands 
look  at  it  from  their  side,  and  not  ours,  and  of  course,  we 


46 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

can't  blame  them,  as  their  money  is  in  their  enterprises  and 
ours  is  in  this  business.  Here  we  have  piped  off  eighty  mil 
lion  square  yards  of  gravel,  and  we  have  recovered  more 
than  three  million  in  gold.  If  they  will  let  us  alone,  we  will 
recover  fully  that  much  more  right  here.  Besides,  all  over 
this  country  there  are  rich  gravel  beds  which  can  only  be 
worked  profitably  by  the  hydraulic  process. 

"But  I  fear  our  work  is  about  at  an  end,  for  Woodruff 
and  others  have  sued  the  North  Blookfield  Company  and  got 
an  injunction  against  their  running  the  debris  into  the  rivers. 
The  Company  appealed  it  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  if  the 
injunction  is  upheld,  that  will  be  the  end  of  hydraulic  mining 
in  this  section.  We  are  expecting  the  decision  any  day  now." 

He  pulled  a  notebook  from  his  pocket  and  made  an  entry 
in  it  of  something  which  had  just  come  to  his  mind. 

"Did  you  say  the  richest  values  were  near  the  bedrock?" 
asked  Manning. 

"Yes,  that  is  where  the  coarse  gold  lodges.  It  is  often 
found  in  large  nuggets  in  the  old  river  beds,  but  there  is  fine 
gold  mixed  all  through  this  sand  and  gravel  here.  It  was 
deposited  here  by  the  waters  of  the  ancient  rivers." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  the  ancient  rivers?"  demanded 
Sprouls,  for  this  was  all  new  to  him. 

"Don't  you  know  anything  about  the  early  history  of  this 
country?"  asked  the  surveyor,  in  surprise. 

"We  do  not,"  replied  Manning.  "We  just  arrived  here 
from  the  East  a  few  days  ago  and  this  is  all  new  to  us.  We 
are  pleased  to  have  you  give  us  this  information." 

This  pleased  the  engineer,  for  he  liked  to  talk,  so  he 
continued : 

"I  see.  Some  more  tenderfeet.  You  don't  handle  a  chain 
like  one  though.  How  many  links  did  you  say  it  measured 
below  that  big  boulder  in  the  bank  there?"  he  asked,  just 
to  see  if  the  men  were  keeping  track  of  it. 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  47 

"Eighty-one  links,  if  you  please,  and  that  makes  this  here 
gravel  bank  exactly  three  hundred  and  two  feet  high,"  said 
Sprouls,  puffing  a  regular  cloud  of  smoke  from  his  old  corn 
cob  pipe. 

"That  is  correct,  according  to  my  figures.  I  am  glad 
that  I  have  found  competent  helpers.  We  may  get  this  work 
done  yet  in  time  for  the  cleanup.  One  more  line  must  be 
run,  and  then  I  can  finish  my  calculations  at  the  cabin."  He 
gave  the  directions  how  to  run  the  next  line,  and  then  con 
tinued  with  his  talk. 

"Now  your  question  about  the  ancient  river  beds:  You 
see,  where  we  have  piped  the  gravel  away,  we  go  right  down 
to  bedrock,  and  you  notice  also  that  this  bedrock  is  scooped 
out  like  a  great  trough,  don't  you?" 

"Yep,  I  see,"  replied  Sprouls,  looking  down  in  the  pit 
where  the  gravel  had  been  piped  away. 

"Well,  that  was  the  channel  of  one  of  these  ancient  rivers. 
At  one  time  this  whole  country  was  a  network  of  rivers,  alto 
gether  different  from  the  present  day  streams.  There  were 
more  of  them  and  they  were  much  larger  than  our  streams, 
as  there  was  a  greater  volume  of  water  to  carry.  This  period 
is  called  the  tertiary  age,  and  was  many  thousands  of  years 
ago.  The  Sierra  Nevada  range  had  been  thrown  up,  and  its 
western  slope  was  more  regular  than  at  present,  and  its 
descent  much  steeper.  That  was  also  before  the  volcanic 
period,  and  the  river  channels  were  straighter,  and  the  rock 
formations  were  softer  than  they  are  now.  The  rainfall  was 
much  greater  during  that  period  than  at  present,  which  added 
a  great  amount  of  water  to  these  large  rivers,  and  this 
rapidly  running  volume  of  water  easily  cut  away  the  soft 
rock  formations  and  formed  deep  channels.  Great  rocks 
would  become  loosened  and  carried  down  the  streams.  Ero 
sion  wore  them  smooth,  and  now  we  see  them  as  boulders 
here  in  the  gravel  pits.  Some  of  them  weigh  tons,  and  yet 


48 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

are  worn  perfectly  smooth,  so  you  can  imagine  the  swiftness 
and  volume  of  the  water  to  have  carried  them  along  till  they 
were  worn  round  and  smooth."  He  paused  awhile,  watching 
the  men  with  their  chaining. 

"Well,"  he  continued,  "there  are  a  lot  of  rich  quartz 
veins  all  over  this  side  of  the  range,  but  they  do  not  appear 
on  the  east  side  of  the  summit.  The  erosion  of  this  water 
cut  away  the  quartz  veins  as  well  as  the  country  rock,  and 
liberated  millions  in  gold.  Some  of  it  was  deposited  in,  large 
chunks,  but  much  of  the  fine  gold  was  carried  on  down  by 
the  current  to  the  Sacramento  valley,  as  was  also  some  of  the 
coarser  gold. 

"The  whole  of  the  Sacramento  valley  is  extremely  rich  in 
placer  gold,  to  say  millions  would  not  express  it,  but  in  most 
places  it  is  covered  up  deeply  with  subsequent  sediment  which 
is  not  gold  bearing.  Some  day,  perhaps,  some  genius  will 
discover  a  way  to  go  down  after  that  gold  and  recover  much 
of  it,  but  it  cannot  be  done  at  the  present  time.  Possibly 
our  children  or  grandchildren  may  be  equal  to  the  task,  but 
why  worry  about  that?  There  is  plenty  of  it  here  in  the 
hills  that  we  can  get,  if  the  Government  will  just  let  us  alone. 
But  we  are  taking  too  much  time  from  our  work  here.  Take 
the  measurement  from  that  flag  on  that  lower  point  to  my 
transit,"  he  concluded,  somewhat  sharply,  suddenly  realizing 
that  they  had  been  so  interested  in  his  talk  that  they  had 
neglected  their  work. 

"One  thing  more  I  would  like  to  ask  you  when  we  get 
through  with  this  work  here,"  said  Manning  after  a  while, 
anxious  to  learn  all  he  could,  but  fearing  somewhat  that  they 
were  asking  too  many  questions. 

"Tell  me  what  it  is  and  I  will  have  my  answer  ready  for 
you."  said  the  engineer,  who  rather  liked  it. 

"You  speak  of  the  ancient  rivers  being  different  from  the 
modern  ones.  What  made  the  change,  and  if  the  waters 


SETTING  THE  NET  FOR  SUCKERS  49 

were  running  so  swiftly,  how  came  these  great  gravel  beds 
to  be  in  them?" 

"That  is  easy,  yet  not  answered  in  a  word.  I  will  walk 
along  with  you  and  explain  it  as  you  do  the  chaining."  As 
he  walked  beside  them,  he  continued: 

"After  the  tertiary  age  there  came  a  period  of  volcanic 
disturbance.  You  will  find  many  craters  in  these  mountains, 
and  nearly  the  whole  western  slope  is  covered  with  volcanic 
lava  flow.  You  will  understand  that  it  was  not  a  regular 
or  even  flow.  The  disturbance  would  break  out  in  several 
places  and  sometimes  flowed  down  and  across  the  river  beds, 
until  it  would  fill  the  canyon  from  bank  to  bank.  This  would 
form  a  dam  across  the  river  and  the  great  volume  of  water 
would  continue  to  flow  down  as  usual  until  it  came  to  this 
dam  of  lava  flow.  Its  force  was  checked  by  the  impediment 
which  held  the  water  back  in  a  great  basin  until  it  filled  or 
could  break  over  or  cut  a  new  channel  around  it.  This  seeth 
ing,  raging  torrent  of  water  would  thus  become  a  calm, 
quiet  lake,  and  all  the  sand,  gravel  and  gold  it  was  carrying 
to  the  sea  would  settle  in  the  bottom  until  the  channel  would 
be  filled  to  the  top.  Thus  we  have  gravel  beds  two,  three  and 
even  five  hundred  feet  deep.  This  process  was  taking  place 
in  many  sections  of  the  country,  while  in  other  places  the  in 
ternal  disturbances  would  raise  the  surface  of  the  ground  be 
neath  the  river  beds,  as  the  incrustment  was  less  thick  there, 
until  what  was  the  valleys  before  now  become  the  mountain 
tops. 

"Thus  the  whole  topography  of  the  country  was  changed. 
New  mountains  and  valleys  were  formed  and  new  river  chan 
nels  were  cut,  some  of  which  were  almost  opposite  to  the  old 
channels.  Volcanic  ashes  and  lava  were  carried  to  the  sea  or 
deposited  in  the  Sacramento  valley.  The  rich  quartz  veins 
from  which  the  gold  was  eroded  are  now  lava  capped,  and 
but  few  of  them  have  ever  been  found.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
many  competent  mining  men  that  more  gold  is  covered  up 


50 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

right  here  in  these  three  counties — Placer,  Nevada  and  Sierra — 
than  has  ever  been  produced  in  all  the  mines  of  the  world 
before.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  history  of  gold 
mining  in  this  section  for  the  next  100  years  to  come. 

"If  they  stop  us  from  hydraulic  mining,  I  presume  that 
we  will  turn  our  attention  to  drift  gravel,  or  quartz  mining. 
Such  is  being  done  now  in  places." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  drift  gravel  mining?"  asked 
Manning. 

"Drift  gravel  mining  is  done  by  finding  one  of  these  ancient 
river  beds  and  tunnel  in  under  the  gravel  and  lava  capping 
next  to  the  bedrock,  and  take  out  the  richest  of  the  gravel 
and  recover  the  gold  from  it.  That  is  where  the  richest  and 
coarsest  gold  is  found.  It  is  usually  necessary  to  work  up 
stream  to  get  the  necessary  drainage,  as  those  old  channels 
are  all  filled  with  water.  Then  if  one  can  follow  the  channel 
he  can  take  out  the  richest  of  the  gravel  to  recover  the  gold 
if  free,  but  if  cemented  it  will  have  to  be  run  through  a  stamp 
mill  to  free  or  loosen  the  gold,  and  which  is  in  either  case 
caught  in  sluices  by  the  use  of  quicksilver,  but  in  quartz  mining 
silver  coated  plates  are  used,  together  with  mercury." 


'We  found  it  in  the  sand  by  the  roots  of  a  big  tree  at  Gold  Run."  Page  51. 


CHAPTER  V 
CAPTURED  BY  THE  ENEMY 

Presently,  Lew  Manning  appeared,  hunting  for  his  father, 
and  when  he  caught  sight  of  him  in  the  gravel  pit,  he  ran 
to  him  and  asked  what  had  been  keeping  him  so  long.  He 
was  surprised  to  learn  that  John  Sprouls  and  his  father  were 
at  work  for  the  Mining  Company,  for  many  men  had  tried 
to  get  work  there  lately,  but  had  been  turned  away  as  the 
company  was  supposed  to  be  full-handed. 

"But,  daddy,"  said  Lew,  "Myrtle,  Bobbie  and  I  have  come 
to  take  you  back  to  camp  for  dinner.  Can't  you  go  now?" 
and  his  hazel  eyes  looked  inquiringly  at  his  father,  who  said 
in  reply : 

"I  am  working  now,  son,  and  can't  go  to  dinner  just  at 
present,  but  you  tell  mother  that  I  will  be  there  later  on. 
What  is  that  you  have  in  your  hand  there?"  noticing  a 
metallic  looking  stone  in  Lew's  hand. 

"Oh,  just  a  funny  stone.  We  have  been  down  to  a  place 
they  call  Gold  Run,  playing  in  the  sand,  and  we  dug  this 
out  of  the  ground  by  the  roots  of  a  big  tree.  We  found 
some  more,  too,  but  we  only  brought  one  apiece,  because 
they  were  so  heavy.  Don't  you  think  these  shiny  places  are 
pretty?"  he  asked. 

"Heavens,  boy,  that  is  gold,"  said  Sprouls  in  great  ex 
citement. 

"Yes,  'fool's  gold,' "  replied  the  engineer,  who  was  some 
distance  away,  marking  down  the  chains  and  links  as  the 
men  called  them  off  to  him.  "You  will  find  plenty  of  that 
pyrites  of  iron  all  over  the  hills  in  this  section.  These  ten- 
derfeet  think  it  is  gold  because  it  shines,  and  that  is  why 

51 


52 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

we  call  it  'fool's  gold,'  "  laughing  at  them  in  his  squeaky 
voice. 

"But  I  wisht  you  would  jist  take  a  look  at  this  here  piece, 
Mr.  Engineer.  Say,  what  is  your  name,  anyway.  I  never 
thought  to  ask  you  before,"  said  Sprouls,  as  he  walked 
towards  the  surveyor  with  the  rock  in  his  hand. 

"George  Brooks  is  my  name,  what  is  yours?" 

"John  Sprouls,  and  this  is  Henry  Manning,  the  captain 
of  our  train  from  Kansas  City  out  here.  This  chap  here 
that  found  the  stone  is  Lew,  his  son.  He  is  the  boy  that 
killed  so  many  cougars  at  Emigrant  Gap  a  few  days  ago." 

"Well,  well,  is  that  so?  I  am  sure  glad  to  know  you  peo 
ple.  Now  let  me  see  that  rock,"  said  Brooks.  "The  dickens !" 
he  exclaimed,  after  he  had  examined  it  closely  for  a  few  min 
utes.  "This  is  gold,  or  the  biggest  part  of  it  is.  There  must 
be  close  to  one  hundred  dollars  in  it.  Where  did  you  say 
you  found  it?" 

"At  Gold  Run,"  said  Lew,  and  then  stopped  short,  as 
his  father  shook  his  head  at  him. 

"Whereabouts  at  Gold  Run?"  asked  the  engineer,  but  the 
boy  obeyed  his  father's  motion  and  stood  silent.  "Let  me 
see  yours,  then,  little  girl,"  he  said,  turning  to  Myrtle.  He 
was  very  much  interested  by  this  time,  and  he  saw  that  she 
had  a  nugget  in  her  hand  also. 

"This  one  is  different.  It  is  not  so  big,  but  it  is  bright 
all  over,"  said  Myrtle  as  she  handed  the  sample  to  him  care 
fully. 

"That  is  a  nugget.    Where  did  you  get  it?"  he  asked  her. 

"Oh,  I  don't  guess  I'll  tell,"  replied  Myrtle,  for  she  had 
seen  Mr.  Manning  shake  his  head  at  Lew. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Brooks,  a  trifle  embarrassed, 
"I  did  not  mean  it  that  way,  but  if  you  will  accept  it  I  will 
give  you  a  little  advice,"  turning  to  the  men.  "I  might  offer 
my  services  to  help  you  locate  the  claim,  if  you  wish." 


CAPTURED  BY  THE  ENEMY 53 

The  thought  had  occurred  to  the  engineer  that  these  men 
were  not  acquainted  with  the  ways  of  the  West,  and  that 
there  might  be  a  chance  for  him  to  get  in  on  something  good, 
or  even  beat  them  to  it. 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Brooks,"  spoke  up  Manning,  although 
somewhat  suspicious  of  the  offer.  "What  advice  have  you 
to  offer?  I  take  you  to  be  an  honest  man,  and  do  not  think 
you  will  lead  us  wrong." 

"First,  have  you  shown  these  samples  to  anyone,  or  told 
anyone  about  where  you  got  them?"  asked  Brooks  of  the 
children. 

"Only  to  mother,"  said  Lew,  while  his  father  again  shook 
his  head  at  him. 

"That  is  good,"  said  the  engineer.  "Now,  let  every  one 
of  you  keep  still,  and  say  nothing  about  it  to  anyone,  or 
someone  might  jump  your  claim.  You  see,  there  used  to 
be  plenty  of  such  finds  in  this  country,  but  they  are  hunted 
up  pretty  close  these  days,  so  keep  those  samples  out  of  sight, 
and  as  soon  as  I  get  time,  I  will  help  you  all  I  can  in  stak 
ing  out  the  claim." 

"Do  you  think  you  can  go  back  to  the  same  place?"  asked 
Brooks  of  the  children. 

"Oh,  yes,  it  is  right  by "  spoke  up  Bobbie,  but  his 

father  interrupted  him  before  he  had  finished. 

"Now,  look  here,  children.  You  heard  what  Mr.  Brooks 
said  about  keeping  still.  Don't  answer  anyone  who  asks  you 
about  it.  Just  send  them  to  me,"  he  said. 

At  this  juncture  the  whistle  sounded  at  the  company's 
plant,  and  at  once  the  water  was  shut  off  in  the  pit,  and 
the  "giants"  which  had  kept  up  a  constant  roar  day  and  night 
ever  since  the  Mannings  arrived,  ceased  their  noise.  Every 
thing  was  quiet  in  the  pit  for  the  first  time  in  a  month.  It 
was  then  that  Robert  Harding,  the  General  Manager  of  the 
Company,  who  had  arrived  with  the  armed  guards,  appeared 
in  the  doorway  of  the  office. 


54 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Send  those  two  men  down  to  help  with  the  cleanup," 
he  called  in  a  loud,  clear  voice.  "Let  that  boy  help  you  finish 
with  the  chaining,  and  hurry  through  and  get  down  here. 
These  guards  can't  stay  here  all  summer." 

The  two  men  stood  looking  at  each  other,  hardly  know 
ing  what  to  do  or  say.  They  had  only  been  helping  the  en 
gineer  in  an  emergency,  and  were  not  regularly  employed 
by  the  company  as  yet. 

"I  suppose  he  don't  know  that  we  are  not  employed  by 
the  company,"  said  Manning  to  Sprouls.  "The  engineer 
ought  to  explain  to  him,  for  I  don't  think  we  ought  to  go, 
do  you  ?"  but  before  Sprouls  could  answer,  Brooks  spoke  up : 

"Never  mind  about  that.  We  always  put  on  all  the  men 
we  can  use  to  advantage  when  we  make  our  cleanups,  and 
you  will  get  your  pay  for  it.  Go  right  on  down,"  for  he  was 
anxious  to  get  them  away  so  as  to  have  a  chance  to  quiz 
the  children  about  the  gold. 

"It  is  not  that,"  said  Manning,  "but  we  .think  we  ought 
to  look  after  this  new  find  our  children  have  made." 

"I  don't  think  it  would  be  wise,  Mr.  Manning,"  replied 
the  other  quickly,  "to  refuse  the  General  Manager  when  he 
calls  you,  as  he  has  done  in  this  case.  If  you  are  going  to 
work  in  this  country,  you  should,  above  all  things,  get  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  those  in  charge  here,  and  the  sooner 
you  can  do  it,  the  better."  His  reasoning  was  convincing. 

"That's  so,"  said  Sprouls,  scratching  his  head  thought 
fully.  "Maybe  we  had  better  go  and  help  them.  It'd  be  a 
good  chance  to  larn  this  system  of  mining." 

"Did  you  never  assist  in  a  cleanup?"  asked  Brooks,  and 
Manning  replied  that  it  was  their  first  experience  at  anything 
of  the  kind. 

"Well,  go  on,  anyhow.  They  won't  know  the  difference, 
if  you  do  what  they  tell  you  to,  and  watch  how  the  others 
do  it" 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 55 

Manning  took  the  gold  samples  from  the  children  and 
put  them  in  his  pocket  for  safe  keeping,  but  the  alert  eye 
of  the  engineer  observed  the  action  closely.  Lew  was  told 
to  assist  the  engineer,  while  Bobbie  and  Myrtle  were  to  go 
back  to  the  wagons  and  tell  Mrs.  Manning  that  they  were 
all  working  for  the  company  and  wouldn't  be  back  until  late. 
He  cautioned  them  to  be  sure  and  keep  still  about  the  gold. 

Manning  and  Sprouls  then  proceeded  to  the  office  of  the 
company  to  report  for  work.  They  found  several  other  men 
there,  who  had  seen  the  guards  come  in,  and  knowing  that 
the  cleanup  would  soon  take  place,  had  presented  themselves 
at  the  office  and  were  also  told  to  help  with  the  work.  A 
great  many  men  did  nothing  else  but  watch  for  such  occa 
sions,  for  there  was  a  splendid  chance  to  "high-grade,"  as 
sneaking  out  the  gold  is  called.  It  was  an  easy  way  of  mak 
ing  money,  if  they  could  get  away  "with  the  goods."  Oft- 
times  they  concealed  and  slipped  out  nuggets  of  considerable 
value. 

No  sooner  were  the  men  out  of  sight  in  the  gravel  pit, 
than  the  engineer  began  to  question  Lew  about  the  gold  and 
where  it  was  found.  The  chaining  was  completed,  but  he 
did  some  of  it  over  again,  so  as  to  have  a  better  chance 
to  quiz  the  boy. 

"And  so  you  think  you  have  found  something  good,  do 
you?"  he  asked.  "What  kind  of  a  place  was  it  in?  I  mean 
was  it  a  creek  bed  or  on  a  bench." 

"I'm  not  going  to  say  anything  more  about  it.  Some 
body  else  might  be  listening,  and  besides  both  you  and  daddy 
told  me  not  to,"  replied  Lew,  for  he  kind  of  suspicioned  that 
the  engineer  was  trying  to  pump  him. 

"Oh,  you  don't  need  to  be  afraid  of  me.  I  am  your 
father's  friend,  and  I'm  going  to  help  him  in  locating  these 
claims,"  which  goes  to  prove  to  what  extent  a  man  will  go 
for  the  possession  of  gold. 


56 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Well,  you  look  like  a  good  man,"  replied  Lew,  dubiously, 
"but  Marshal  Bass  told  us  not  to  trust  anyone  in  this  coun 
try,  for  here  it  was  'everybody  for  himself.' " 

"You  don't  think  I  would  take  advantage  of  your  father, 
do  you?"  he  asked,  in  an  angry  tone  meant  to  frighten  the 
boy.  "Do  you  mean  to  insinuate  that  I  am  that  kind  of  a 
man?" 

"No,  sir,  I  just  don't  know  you,  that's  all.  I  never  seen 
you  until  a  few  minutes  ago,  but  I  guess  you're  all  right." 

"Then  why  should  you  refuse  to  tell  me  all  about  it,  when 
I  have  befriended  your  father,  gotten  him  a  job,  and  then 
offered  to  help  him  locate  his  claim?"  asked  Brooks,  but  that 
insistence  settled  it  with  Lew,  and  he  answered : 

"It's  not  daddy's  claim  yet,  and  he  doesn't  even  know 
where  it  is.  I  know,  but  it  may  be  on  the  property  of  some 
one  else  for  all  I  know.  I'm  not  going  to  say  anything  more 
about  it  anyway,  until  I  talk  it  over  with  daddy.  If  I  do 
it  without  his  consent,  I  may  get  into  trouble." 

"Now,  look  here,  boy,"  said  the  engineer,  who,  like  most 
mining  people  of  the  West  in  those  days,  looked  upon  every 
mining  proposition  in  a  cold-blooded  way,  and  in  many  cases 
used  might  to  win  their  point.  "That  kind  of  talk  may  go 
in  the  states,  but  not  in  this  country.  You  won't  last  a  week 
here  if  you  have  a  disposition  like  that,  and  you  can't  work 
for  me  any  longer,  either,  and  talk  like  that.  Here  is  four 
bits.  Take  it  and  clear  out,  and  never  come  upon  this  prop 
erty  again  or  you  will  get  what's  coming  to  you,"  seeing  that 
he  could  not  bulldoze  the  boy.  Besides,  he  wanted  to  scare 
him,  so  as  to  keep  him  from  going  to  his  father  and  telling 
him  of  the  conversation  which  had  just  taken  place  about 
the  gold. 

"I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,"  he  continued,  "that  you 
must  have  'high-graded'  that  ore,  or  swiped  it  from  some 
cabin  here  in  camp.  I  mean  to  investigate  it  a  little,  and  it 


CAPTURED  BY  THE  ENEMY 57 

may  turn  out  to  be  more  serious  than  you  think.  I'll  promise 
you  this  much:  that  you  can't  act  this  way,  and  your  dad 
still  work  for  this  company.  I'll  see  to  it  that  he  gets  dis 
charged,  too." 

"Oh,  all  right,"  replied  Lew,  "daddy  was  only  helping 
you  for  an  accommodation,  anyhow.  Mamma  and  I  will  be 
very  glad  if  you  will  send  him  home,"  and  with  this,  he 
turned  and  ran  away  to  the  camp  wagon. 

The  baffled  engineer  stood  and  watched  the  boy  until  he 
was  out  of  sight.  He  was  much  chagrined  to  think  he  had 
been  defeated  in  his  efforts  to  find  the  location  of  the  rich 
"diggin's"  and  was  tempted  to  call  Lew  back,  but  finally 
decided  it  would  be  of  no  use.  He  stood  for  a  long  min 
ute  engrossed  in  his  own  thoughts,  then  said  aloud,  "I  will 
go  and  find  that  claim  myself." 

Grabbing  up  his  instruments,  chains  and  stakes,  he  hur 
ried  across  to  the  office  and  put  them  away.  He  then  walked 
over  to  the  General  Manager's  desk  and  stood  whispering 
to  him  for  a  moment,  to  which  Mr.  Harding  replied,  "All 
right,  take  him,  but  hurry  back."  Brooks  hurriedly  left  the 
office,  and  a  moment  later  could  be  seen  riding  in  the 
direction  of  Gold  Run  on  the  General  Manager's  horse. 

He  saw  no  one  until  .he  had  nearly  reached  the  camp, 
when  he  encountered  two  men.  He  inquired  if  they  had  seen 
three  children  down  that  way  earlier  in  the  day,  and  they 
said  they  had  not.  He  then  put  the  same  question  to  a  num 
ber  of  miners,  whom  he  met  knocking  off  for  the  day,  but 
nowhere  could  he  find  a  trace  of  the  place  where  the  children 
had  been.  Then  he  rode  around  the  various  workings,  mak 
ing  the  same  inquiry  and  looking  for  tracks  in  the  sand,  but 
all  to  no  avail.  Taking  his  watch  from  his  pocket,  he  saw 
that  it  was  almost  five  o'clock,  and  he  knew  that  by  six  the 
men  would  be  going  off  the  job  for  supper. 

"Whatever  I  do  will  have  to  be  done  quickly,"  he  said 
aloud  with  a  worried  frown. 


58 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"What's  got  to  be  done  so  quick  as  all  that?"  said  a 
watchman  as  he  stepped  from  behind  a  big  pine  tree  with 
his  gun  pointed  towards  the  engineer.  "Put  your  mitts  up 
there,  and  be  quick  about  it." 

The  engineer,  taken  by  surprise,  stammered  out,  "Oh ! 
Oh !  I — I  beg  your  pardon.  Let  me  explain,"  .his  voice 
squeakier  than  ever  with  fright. 

"Well,  you'd  better,  and  don't  be  long  about  it,  either. 
We've  had  too  many  of  you  fellers  doing  things  'quickly' 
around  here  already,  and  I  guess  I've  got  the  one  we're  look 
ing  for  this  time,"  said  the  watchman  sharply. 

By  this  time  Brooks  had  somewhat  composed  himself,  and 
he  hastened  to  reply. 

"Oh,  but  you're  mistaken  this  time.  I  was  just  look 
ing  for  three  children  who  have  been  'high-grading'  on  my 
claim  down  here.  I  have  been  missing  ore  for  some  time 
and  have  been  watching  the  men,  but  just  lately  I  found 
that  it  was  children  and  now  I  am  looking  for  them." 

"Is  it  two  boys  and  a  girl?"  asked  the  watchman,  trying 
to  draw  him  out. 

"Yes,  that's  them.     Did  you  see  them  today?"  excitedly. 

"I  did,  but  they're  just  newcomers  lookin'  around,  and  not 
bothering  anybody.  They  wouldn't  know  gold  if  they  saw 
it,  because  I  showed  them  a  piece  and  asked  'em  if  they 
knowed  what  it  was  and  they  said  no.  You're  after  the  wrong 
bunch,  mister.  But  whar  is  this  claim  you're  talking  about?" 

"Oh,  no,  these  are  the  ones,  I'm  sure,  for  they  came  back 
to  the  camp  with  nuggets  worth  one  hundred  dollars  apiece 
in  their  hands."  Quick  as  a  flash  the  guard  saw  through  it 
and  replied : 

"Oh,  you  saw  them,  did  you,  and  they  had  the  gold  with 
them?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  engineer,  "and  I  tried  to  make  them  tell 
where  they  got  it  but  they  refused,  so  I  knew  they  must 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 59 

have  gotten  it  from  my  claim,"  trying  to  throw  the  watch 
man  off  his  guard. 

''Show  me  your  claim  and  I'll  tell  you  whether  they  were 
there  or  not,"  said  the  watchman,  "for  I  kept  an  eye  on 
them." 

"Show  me  which  way  they  went  back,"  replied  the  en 
gineer,  with  a  gleam  of  delight  upon  his  face,  for  he  thought 
at  last  he  had  found  a  clue  which  would  lead  him  to  the 
claims. 

"You  never  answered  me.  I  want  to  know  where  your 
claims  are?" 

"I  refuse  to  tell  you,"  answered  the  engineer.  "They  are 
rich,  and  I  fear  too  many  know  where  they  are  now.  I 
cannot  get  away  from  my  work  very  often  to  take  care  of 
them." 

"Away  frdm  your  work?    Where  do  you  work?" 

"At  Dutch  Flat,  sir,"  and  the  watchman,  seeing  the  big  scar 
across  his  forehead,  which  had  been  received  in  a  fight  some 
years  before,  and  hearing  his  squeaky  voice,  and  seeing  the 
sneaking  look  in  his  eyes,  recognized  him,  as  any  one  would 
who  had  once  known  him,  said :  "Oh,  I've  got  you  now. 
Your  name  is  Brooks,  and  you're  the  engineer  at  the  Dutch 
Flat  mine.  I  thought  I  had  seen  you  somewhere." 

"Yes,  you're  right,"  replied  Brooks,  now  feeling  that  he 
was  safe. 

"But  when  did  you  locate  any  claim  around  here?  I  have 
the  record  of  every  location  up  to  noon  to-day,  and  your 
name  is  not  on  the  list." 

"So?"  queried  the  engineer,  feeling  that  he  was  about 
to  be  trapped. 

"You  bet  that's  so,"  said  the  watchman,  cuttingly,  "and 
I  begin  to  smell  a  mouse  here.  I  think  it's  time  for  you  to 
hit  the  trail  for  Dutch  Flat,  for  'whatever  I  do  I'll  have  to 
do  quickly,'  "  using  the  engineer's  own  words.  "I  see  pretty 


60 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

clear  that  you  are  trying  to  jump  some  one's  claim  if  you 
can  get  the  location.  Well,  you  are  barking  up  the  wrong 
tree  here.  Now,  move  on."  The  engineer,  again  defeated 
in  his  purpose,  wheeled  his  horse  and  made  for  Dutch  Flat 
at  full  speed.  When  he  came  in  sight  of  the  company's 
property  he  halted  a  moment,  and  said  to  himself:  "I  think 
I  will  run  over  to  the  Mannings'  wagon.  The  children  will 
be  there  now,  and  the  men  are  not  home  from  their  work 
yet.  I  think  I  can  scare  it  out  of  them.  Anyway,  it's  worth 
trying,"  and  he  drew  rein  beside  the  wagon.  He  saw  only 
one  of  the  children. 

"Boy,"  he  asked,  "is  Mrs.  Manning  here?" 

"Yes,  she  is  in  the  tent  there,"  answered  Bobbie,  for  it 
was  he. 

"Will  you  tell  her  to  come  out?"  he  said  nervously. 

Young  Manning  called  his  mother,  who  came  to  the  door 
of  the  tent.  Lew  was  not  in  sight,  so  the  engineer  supposed 
he  was  not  at  home.  "Now,"  he  thought,  "I  can  scare  the 
woman  and  children  into  telling  me  the  location  of  the 
claim,"  so,  becoming  very  bold  all  at  once,  he  said: 

"Madam,  I  presume  these  are  your  children." 

"Well,  what  is  that  to  you?"  replied  Mrs.  Manning,  for 
she  had  some  idea  of  what  he  wanted,  as  Lew  had  told  her 
of  their  talk  and  the  engineer's  efforts  to  learn  the  location 
of  the  claim.  She  wondered  if  the  load  already  on  her 
heart  was  going  to  be  increased  by  more  trouble. 

"Very  much  to  me,  for  I  would  have  you  understand  that 
these  youngsters  have  been  'high-grading'  upon  my  claim," 
he  snapped,  working  himself  up  into  a  rage.  "I  have  just 
come  from  there,  and  I  saw  their  tracks  in  the  sand.  We 
caught  them  with  gold  amounting  to  one  hundred  dollars 
in  their  possession,  which  your  husband  now  has  in  his 
pocket.  I  am  here  to  tell  you  that  unless  you  can  show  where 
they  got  the  gold,  I  shall  turn  them  over  to  the  armed  guards 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 61 

for  punishment.  I  suppose  you  understand  that  the  penalty 
for  such  work  in  this  country  is  very  severe?  Now  I  will 
just  give  these  youngsters  fifteen  minutes  to  tell  me  where 
they  got  that  gold,  or  we  wil^  have  the  armed  guard  come 
over  and  take  the  whole  bunch  of  you." 

The  threat  was  so  unexpected  and  so  to  the  point,  that 
Mrs.  Manning  thought  perhaps  after  all  it  was  true.  She 
became  so  frightened  that  she  fell  in  a  faint,  and  the  chil 
dren  began  to  cry.  Lew,  who  was  in  the  covered  wagon, 
had  heard  all  that  had  been  said,  and  knowing  intuitively 
that  the  man  was  lying  about  all  this  just  to  learn  the  loca 
tion  of  the  claim  in  order  to  jump  them,  just  reached  up  to 
the  top  of  the  wagon  bows  and  took  down  his  rifle.  It  was 
the  same  gun  he  had  killed  the  lions  with,  and  used  to  such 
good  advantage  in  driving  off  the  Indians  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  He  looked  carefully  to  see  if  it  was  primed  and 
capped,  then  climbed  out  of  the  wagon,  leveled  the  gun  at 
the  engineer,  and  commanded  him  to  put  his  hands  up. 

The  engineer,  whose  back  had  been  toward  the  wagon, 
turned  around  at  the  sound  of  Lew's  voice,  and  looked  down 
the  barrel  of  a  loaded  rifle.  Caught  unawares  for  the  sec 
ond  time  that  day,  he  put  his  hands  above  his  head.  He 
knew  well  how  cool  Lew  had  been  in  their  former  conversa 
tion,  and  the  look  upon  the  boy's  face  told  him  now  that 
he  meant  business. 

"You  may  scare  mother  and  call  us  thieves,  but  I  will 
show  you  who  the  thief  is.  You  are  trying  to  steal  our 
claims.  You  came  here,  thinking  you  could  scare  mother 
and  us  children  into  telling  where  the  claims  are.  I  just 
saw  Marshal  Bass  and  put  him  next  to  you.  He  is  laying 
for  you  right  now  and  you  will  learn  a  thing  or  two  before 
you  are  through  with  this.  You  took  us  for  tenderfeet,  but 
we  have  bucked  up  against  too  many  wild  Indians  to  be  bull 
dozed  by  fellows  like  you.  Now  you  get  off  that  horse  and 


63 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

lift  mother  from  the  ground  to  that  couch  in  the  tent  there, 
or  I  will  put  a  hole  through  you  so  quick  you'll  never  know 
what  hit  you,"  demanded  Lew,  summoning  all  his  courage. 

The  engineer  obeyed  his  orders,  and  lifted  the  woman 
to  the  couch. 

"Now  take  that  canteen  and  wet  her  face,"  continued  Lew. 

"There,  she  is  better  now,"  said  Brooks  slowly,  as  Mrs. 
Manning  drew  a  long  breath  and  opened  her  eyes.  He 
heaved  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"Now  apologize  to  her,  and  be  quick  about  it,"  said  Lew, 
his  eyes  flashing. 

"Lady,  it  is  all  a  mistake,"  said  the  engineer,  but  Lew 
stopped  him,  for  he  was  fighting  mad  by  this  time. 

"Mistake  is  not  the  word,  sir!  You  tell  her  that  it  is  all 
a  lie." 

"Mrs.  Manning,  I — I — I — apologize  to  you.  It  is  a — a — a 
mi — "  and  he  looked  again  to  see  if  the  boy  was  keeping  his 
nerve. 

"Say  it!"  commanded  Lew,  as  he  pushed  the  muzzle  of 
the  gun  a  little  closer  to  his  face. 

"Madam,  it  is  all  a  li — lie,"  he  finally  squeaked  out,  in 
terror. 

"Now,  sir,  git!  Take  that  horse  and  get  out  of  here  as 
fast  as  you  can.  I'll  tell  you  the  same  thing  you  told  me 
this  afternoon,  that  if  you  ever  come  around  our  tents  again 
you'll  get  what's  coming  to  you.  Do  you  understand?"  low 
ering  his  gun,  but  keeping  his  eyes  on  the  engineer. 

"Yes,"  growled  the  engineer,  glad  to  get  away.  "Shoot 
the  luck,"  he  said  to  himself  as  he  rode  over  to  the  com 
pany's  office  and  hitched  the  horse.  He  walked  down  by  the 
pit  to  make  sure  that  Manning  was  there,  and  seeing  him 
busy  at  work  lifting  the  boulders  from  the  drain,  turned  and 
went  back  to  the  office.  He  rushed  up  to  the  General  Man 
ager,  and  pretending  great  excitement,  told  him  that  two  of 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 63 

the  men  were  "high-grading"  at  the  sluiceway.  The  Man 
ager,  who  had  been  annoyed  so  much  in  the  past  by  this  kind 
of  work,  flew  into  a  rage,  called  a  guard,  and  with  the  en 
gineer  leading  the  way,  they  made  for  the  pit. 

"Show  me  the  man!"  said  Harding,  very  angrily. 

"There  he  is,"   said  the  engineer,   pointing  to  Manning. 

"Here,  guards!  Arrest  that  man,"  said  the  Manager, 
pointing  to  Henry  Manning.  The  guards,  not  knowing  what 
the  trouble  was,  but  doing  .as  they  were  bid,  surrounded  Mr. 
Manning.  He  was  taken  completely  by  surprise,  for  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  trouble  between  the  engineer  and  his 
son.  He  questioned  them  in  astonishment. 

"Do  you  say  I  am  under  arrest?"  he  asked. 

"That's  what  you  are,"  was  the  answer. 

vWill  you  tell  me  what  for?"  asked  Manning,  coolly, 
thinking  it  might  be  a  joke. 

"  'High-grading,'  "  put  in  the  engineer.  "You  can't  steal 
gold  around  this  place  and  get  away  with  it,"  as  a  broad 
smile  of  satisfaction  passed  over  his  face. 

"There  must  be  some  mistake  about  this,"  put  in  the 
guard.  "We  have  only  been  here  two  hours  now,  and  have 
not  gotten  far  enough  along  yet  to  get  at  any  of  the  gold; 
besides,  this  man  is  a  green  hand  at  the  business  and  I  have 
been  keeping  my  eye  on  his  work  all  along,  as  he  asked  me 
to  help  him  get  started,  and  to  show  him  how  to  do  the  work 
right." 

At  this  John  Sprouls  became  so  frightened  that  he  tried 
to  back  away,  fearing  he  might  be  arrested,  too.  He  had 
jerked  off  his  hat  as  usual,  when  excited,  and  was  pulling 
away  at  his  beard  as  if  his  life  depended  upon  it.  He  re 
membered  that  Manning  had  put  the  gold  in  his  pocket  that 
the  children  had  found. 

"Arrest  that  man,  too,"  cried  the  engineer.  "He  is  one 
of  them,  and  shows  he  is  guilty  by  trying  to  escape." 


64 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Sprouls  was  ready  to  faint  with  fright. 

"Here,  gentlemen,"  shouted  the  guard.  "This  is  an  in 
sinuation  on  my  work  as  a  guard.  I  know  there  is  a  mis 
take,  for  these  men  have  had  no  chance  at  the  gold."  He 
was  suspicious  of  the  engineer's  actions. 

"I  demand  that  they  be  searched,"  said  the  engineer  by 
way  of  answer,  with  an  air  of  confidence.  "I  saw  that  man 
there  (pointing  to  Henry  Manning)  put  a  large  piece  of  gold 
in  his  pocket." 

He  remembered  seeing  Manning  place  the  gold  in  his  coat 
pocket  at  the  time  he  took  it  from  the  children,  but  had  not 
noticed  in  his  excitement  that  Mr.  Manning  had  removed  his 
coat  and  hung  it  on  a  tree  nearby  when  he  went  to  work 
at  the  sluice. 

"Guards,  search  these  men,"  commanded  the  General 
Manager,  for  at  every  cleanup  they  had  missed  large  quan 
tities  of  gold.  Certain  shaped  nuggets  which  they  had  found 
in  the  sluices  and  intended  for  specimens,  had  in  some  man 
ner  gotten  away  from  them.  The  General  Manager  was  de 
termined  to  locate  the  guilty  party  this  time.  "I  have  been 
missing  gold  here  at  every  cleanup  and  if  these  are  the  chaps 
I  am  looking  for  I  am  going  to  make  an  example  of  them," 
continued  Harding. 

"Mr.  Harding,"  replied  the  guard,  as  he  began  search 
ing  the  two  men,  "I  will  do  as  you  say,  but  you  are  mistaken 
about  these  two  men;  they  had  no  chance  to  get  to  the  gold 
in  the  sluice." 

The  search  was  soon  completed,  and  not  a  trace  of  gold 
was  found  on  either  of  the  men. 

"There,  I  told  you  so,"  said  the  guard,  triumphantly. 

For  a  moment  the  engineer  was  puzzled,  for  he  was  sure 
the  two  big  chunks  of  gold  which  the  children  had  found 
would  be  in  Manning's  pocket.  He  looked  first  at  the  guard, 
and  then  at  the  men,  when  suddenly  he  noticed  that  they 
had  their  coats  off. 


CAPTURED  BY  THE  ENEMY 65 

"Look  in  their  coat  pockets,"  he  cried,  remembering  now 
that  the  men  had  had  their  coats  on  when  they  were  chain 
ing  the  ground,  and  that,  of  course,  it  was  the  coat  pocket 
the  gold  was  in. 

"Where  are  your  coats?"  asked  Harding  of  the  two  men. 

"We  don't  understand  this.  What  are  you  trying  to  get 
at?"  replied  Manning. 

"Answer  me,"  shouted  the  Manager,  angrily,  as  he  rushed 
up  to  Manning  with  a  shovel  in  his  hand,  as  though  he  was 
going  to  strike  him.  At  this,  Sprouls,  who  was  so  excited 
he  hardly  knew  just  what  he  was  doing,  grabbed  a  pick  and 
made  for  the  General  Manager.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
guard  jumping  between  them  and  holding  his  arm,  the  point 
of  the  pick  would  have  lodged  in  the  skull  of  the  Manager. 

"Now  I  know  they're  guilty,"  cried  the  Manager,  "or  they 
wouldn't  resist  me  and  refuse  to  tell  where  their  coats  are. 
Take  them  to  jail." 

"A  word  first,"  said  Henry  Manning  coolly,  for  he  began 
to  see  some  plot  behind  the  accusations  of  the  engineer.  "I 
demand  that  you  proceed  slowly  in  this  matter,  and  be  sure 
of  what  you  are  doing.  I  have  done  you  no  wrong,  and 
want  to  be  sure  you  are  doing  us  no  wrong." 

"Give  him  a  chance,  Mr.  Harding,"  said  the  guard  to  the 
Manager.  "There  is  not  a  particle  of  sense  or  justice  in  any 
part  of  the  proceeding.  These  men  had  no  opportunity  to 
'high-grade.'  They  are  tenderfeet,  and  I  know  they  haven't 
had  a  chance  at  your  gold.  I  will  protect  them  with  my 
life,  if  need  be." 

"I  demand  that  their  coats  be  examined,"  cried  Brooks, 
fearing  he  was  going  to  lose  his  case  again. 

"These  men  have  not  had  their  coats  on  since  they  came 
here,  and  besides  they  have  not  been  here  over  two  hours," 
replied  the  guard. 

"There  are  the  coats!"  cried  the  engineer,  as  he  caught 
sight  of  the  two  coats  hanging  on  a  tree  nearby. 


66 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Are  these  your  coats?"  asked  the  Manager. 

"They  are,  but "  Mr.  Manning  started  to  reply,  but 

was  stopped  by  Harding,  who  said,  "No  explanations  are 
necessary.  We  will  search  them  for  ourselves." 

"I  would  like  a  word  first,"  said  Manning. 

"He's  caught  and  he  wants  to  get  out  of  it  by  explana 
tions,"  sneered  the  engineer,  who  was  so  excited  that  he 
could  hardly  control  his  squeaky  voice. 

"Well,  he  can't  work  that  on  me,"  replied  Harding.  "I 
know  these  kind  of  fellows.  I'll  examine  those  coats  myself." 

Taking  down  the  coats  and  turning  around  so  that  all 
could  see  him,  he  examined  first  Sprouls'  coat,  but  finding 
nothing  in  it,  threw  it  down  on  the  ground  and  gave  the 
engineer  a  savage  look. 

"You'll  find  it  in  the  other  one,"  said  the  engineer,  who 
now  felt  sure  of  what  he  was  doing,  for  he  had  seen  the 
pocket  pouching  out. 

The  Manager  then  examined  the  second  coat,  and  to  his 
surprise  and  joy  found  two  large  pieces  of  gold,  worth  fully 
a  hundred  and  eighty  dollars. 

"Well,  I  guess  we've  caught  them  with  the  goods  on," 
he  said.  "Take  them  to  the  lock-up.  We'll  make  an  example 
of  these  fellows,"  he  concluded. 

"One  word  of  explanation,"  shouted  Manning,  as  the 
guards,  who  were  surprised  at  the  finding  of  the  gold,  started 
with  the  two  men  toward  the  jail.  "That  gold  never  came 
from  this  mine." 

"Never  mind,  never  mind,"  retorted  the  Manager,  as  he 
put  the  gold  in  his  own  pocket.  "That  is  the  same  old  story, 
but  it  don't  go  with  me  this  time.  Here  is  the  proof,"  as 
he  tapped  his  pocket  with  his  finger. 

"Mr.  Harding,"  said  the  guard,  "that  engineer  knows  too 
much  about  this  gold,  and  I  am  sure  there  is  something 
wrong  somewhere." 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 67 

"Never  mind,  sir.  If  you  are  going  to  work  for  me  you 
will  obey  orders.  Take  these  men  to  the  lockup,  and  no 
more  arguing  about  it." 

The  guard  could  only  obey  orders,  so  he  took  the  two 
men  to  the  small  "cooler,"  as  the  crude  jail  was  called,  feel 
ing  as  though  they  were'  being  railroaded  to  an  unjust  pun 
ishment.  When  the  engineer  really  saw  the  men  being  taken 
to  jail,  he  gave  a  sigh  of  relief  and  turned  to  go  to  his  board 
ing  house,  but  Mr.  Manning  stopped,  and  called  to  him. 

"Mr.  Brooks,  why  do  you  accuse  us  of  stealing?  You 
know  where  that  gold  came  from." 

Brooks  laughed  insolently.  "Of  course  I  do.  I  saw  you 
put  it  in  your  pocket,  but  we'll  show  you  how  to  come 
around  here  stealing-  our  gold." 

"You  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  it  never  came  from  this 
property,"  replied  Manning.  "You  saw  my  children  bring 
it  to  me  from  Gold  Run." 

"Don't  deny  it*  You  can't  make  that  old  gag  work  here," 
he  squeaked  out,  half  afraid  some  one  would  believe  the 
story. 

"I  thought  you  were  going  to  be  my  friend,  as  you  prom 
ised  me  this  afternoon,"  said  Manning. 

"I  was,  but  look  how  your  son  talked  to  me ,"  and 

then  he  remembered  that  Mr.  Manning  knew  nothing  of  his 
trouble  with  Lew,  and  fearing  he  would  give  himself  away 
if  he  talked  longer,  he  hurried  on  in  the  direction  of  his 
boarding  house.  He  stopped  as  he  came  to  his  door,  and 
turned  to  watch  the  men,  so  as  to  have  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  them  actually  taken  inside  the  jail.  As  he  did  so. 
he  saw  the  men  talking  to  the  guard,  whose  name  was  Abe 
Smith,  and  he  knew  that  they  would  tell  him  the  truth  about 
the  gold.  It  worried  him  not  a  little,  for  this  meant  that 
he  would  have  to  implicate  the  guard,  too,  if  he  made  his 
bluff  work.  He  decided  to  see  the  General  Manager  about 


68 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

it,  and  so  started  back  to  the  offices.  As  he  approached  Mr. 
Harding,  who  was  again  looking  at  the  sample  of  gold,  he 
heard  him  say :  "I  don't  know  where  this  gold  came  from, 
but  it  is  good,  and  worth  enough  to  fight  over." 

"Those  samples,  Mr.  Harding,  are  from  the  property  I 
told  you  about,  and  went  to  see  today,"  spoke  up  the  engineer. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  have  made  a  fool  of  me 
here  and  that  these  men  were  not  guilty  of  'high-grading'?" 
asked  the  Manager,  in  surprise. 

"Mr.  Harding,  I  didn't  get  a  chance  to  explain  to  you 
as  I  wanted  to.  What  I  did  I  had  to  do  quickly,  as  the 
men  were  about  to  leave,  and  I  knew  if  they  got  away  with 
that  gold  we  would  lose  out." 

"Then  these  men  are  not  'high-graders,'  and  this  gold  did 
not  come  from  this  property?" 

"Exactly  so,  but  if  we  can  scare  the  location  out  of  them 
by  making  them  think  we  are  going  to  punish  them,  no  harm 
is  done,"  answered  Brooks,  boldly. 

"You  said  you  knew  where  the  claims  were  and  were  going 
to  stake  them,  and  that  I  should  be  in  upon  it,  and  now  you 
have  made  a  fool  of  yourself  and  me,  too,  and  caused  the 
arrest  of  those  innocent  men.  I  cannot  put  up  with  this  kind 
of  business.  I  thought  you  were  sure  of  what  you  were 
doing  or  I  wouldn't  have  been  a  partner  in  this  affair." 

"Listen  to  me,  Mr.  Harding.  You  know  from  the  size 
and  quality  of  those  nuggets  that  they  are  from  virgin  gravel. 
Where  nuggets  as  large  as  that  are  found  there  must  be  an 
unlimited  amount  of  smaller  gold.  It  is  sure  worth  fighting 
over,  as  you  just  said." 

"Well,  but  you  said  you  knew  where  the  ground  was,  and 
asked  for  my  horse  to  ride  down  and  stake  the  claims,  and 
now  it  appears  that  they  belong  to  some  one  else  and  you 
do  not  know  where  they  are  at  all,"  said  Harding,  angrily, 
turning  as  though  he  was  going  to  leave. 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 69 

"Be  patient  a  moment,  until  I  explain  a  little  more,"  said 
Brooks.  "I  did  think  I  knew  where  the  claims  were,  but 
when  I  got  down  there  at  Gold  Run,  I  was  taken  by  sur 
prise  by  the  watchman,  who  wouldn't  give  me  a  chance  to 
follow  the  tracks  of  the  children  to  the  place,  and  because 
I  couldn't  tell  him  where  the  claims  were,  he  pulled  a  gun 
on  me,  thinking  I  was  in  there  to  high-grade  myself.  So  I 
had  to  leave." 

"Then  the  claims  belong  to  someone  else  and  you  were 
trying  to  find  them  to  jump  them.  Did  you  think  I  would 
be  a  partner  to  such  business?"  asked  Harding,  beginning 
to  get  very  angry  indeed. 

"You  don't  understand,"   exclaimed  Brooks,   impatiently. 

"Yes,  I  do  understand,  and  I  know  also  that  it  is  a  very 
serious  matter  in  this  country  to  jump  another  man's  claim," 
said  Harding,  his  eyes  snapping. 

"Listen !  These  claims  have  never  been  staked  yet  by 
anyone,  and  it  is  simply  the  man  who  gets  there  first  who 
will  get  them,"  Brooks  said,  firmly. 

"Oh,  well,  that  is  different.  But  if  they  don't  belong  to 
any  one  yet,  how  do  you  happen  to  know  about  them?"  half 
inclined  to  go  in  with  Brooks. 

"Some  children  brought  in  the  gold  and  told  where  they 
got  it,"  replied  the  engineer.  "It  just  happened  this  after 
noon,  since  you  came." 

"Do  these  men — what  are  their  names  ? — know  about  these 
claims,  and  where  they  are?"  asked  Harding',  cooling  off 
again. 

"They  never  saw  them,  and  they  have  the  same  informa 
tion  that  I  have." 

"Then  what  are  you  persecuting  them  for?"  asked  Hard 
ing. 

"To  get  the  location  of  the  claims  from  them,"  said  the 
engineer  impatiently. 


70 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"But  tell  me,  how  can  they  do  that  if  they  don't  know 
any  more  about  them  than  you  do?" 

Brooks  saw  he  would  have  to  begin  at  the  beginning  and 
explain  the  whole  thing  to  Harding  to  get  him  to  understand 
it. 

"It  is  this  way :  These  men  came  around  here  this  morn 
ing  just  as  I  was  in  need  of  someone  to  help  me  do  some 
chaining,  as  my  helper  had  left,  so  I  employed  them  to  assist 
me.  Later  in  the  day  the  children  of  this  Mr.  Manning  came 
to  hunt  their  father,  who  lives  down  there  in  one  of  those 
camp  wagons.  When  they  came  up  they  had  these  chunks 
of  gold  in  their  hands.  They  had  been  playing  with  them 
and  did  not  even  know  it  was  gold.  I  told  them  what  it  was 
and  asked  them  where  they  got  it,  and  they  said  at  Gold 
Run,  in  the  sand  by  a  big  tree.  I  tried  to  get  the  location 
but  Mr.  Manning  shook  his  head  at  the  boy  and  he  shut 
up  like  a  clam.  I  took  him  out  later  to  work  with  me,  and 
tried  to  get  him  to  tell,  but  he  is  the  sharpest  kid  I  ever 
came  up  against,  and  I  couldn't  get  a  word  out  of  him.  So 
these  children  are  the  only  ones  who  know  where  the  claims 
are.  Now,  you  see  why  I  want  those  men  locked  up  until 
we  find  and  locate  the  claims.  If  they  are  free  the  children 
will  take  them  to  Gold  Run  and  show  them  the  place,  and  it 
will  be  too  late  then  for  us  to  do  anything." 

"Go  get  those  children  and  let  me  have  a  talk  with  them," 
said  Harding,  who  was  now  more  than  interested  in  the  story. 

"I  can't  do  that,  Mr.  Harding.  That  boy  is  sitting  over 
there  in  the  wagon  this  very  minute  with  a  loaded  rifle  in 
his  hands  and  he  told  me  if  I  ever  came  about  there  again 
he  would  shoot  me,"  replied  Brooks. 

"Go  swear  out  a  warrant  for  him  and  have  him  arrested, 
too,"  said  Harding.  "Which  wagon  is  theirs?  I  will  go 
after  him." 

"Just  a  minute,  Mr.  Harding.     Now  that  you  are  inter- 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 71 

ested,  and  are  going  to  work  with  me  in  this  matter,  there 
is  one  thing  that  we  have  got  to  do  first,"  putting  his  hand 
on  Hoarding's  shoulder  in  a  familiar  way. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  asked  the  other. 

"We've  got  to  take  care  of  that  guard,  Smith,  first,  in 
some  way  or  other,  either  by  bribing  him  or  by  taking  him 
in  on  it,  or  by  force." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Harding,  seeing  more 
trouble  ahead. 

"Well,  things  Happened  so  quickly,  that  I  didn't  have 
time  to  work  out  all  my  plans,  and  Abe  Smith  isn't  on  to 
it  yet.  You  see,  he  knows  these  men  are  innocent.  It  hap 
pened  a  little  too  soon  in  the  cleanup,  and  there  was  no  gold 
uncovered  yet.  He  will  free  these  men  if  we're  not  careful, 
before  we  get  what  we  want.  He  is  the  only  man  I  fear." 

"Do  you  think  Smith  knows  anything  about  it?"  asked 
Harding,  seriously. 

"I  think  ,he  knows  the  whole  story  by  this  time." 

"What  makes  you  think  so?" 

"Well,  I  didn't  have  a  chance  to  talk  to  him,  for  you 
ordered  him  to  take  the  men  to  the  cooler,  but  before  they 
got  there  I  saw  that  they  stopped  and  talked  it  over.  I  made 
a  mistake  in  not  going  along.  I'll  bet  they've  told  him  all 
about  it  by  this  time." 

This  condition  of  affairs  greatly  provoked  the  Manager, 
and  he  said  in  disgust: 

"This  is  a  pretty  mess  you've  gotten  me  into.  I've  a 
notion  to  order  the  release  of  the  men  on  the  pretense  that 
it  was  mistaken  identity.  If  you  can't  pull  off  anything  better 
than  that,  you'd  better  quit  the  business." 

But  the  engineer  was  persistent.  "No,  we  can't  lay  down 
on  it  that  way,"  he  said.  "We  have  this  gold  and  it  is  prima 
facie  evidence  against  them.  We  can  make  them  tell  all 
right,  before  we  let  them  out.  Then  we  can  beat  them  to 
it,  and  dismiss  the  charges  against  them." 


72 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"B,ut  what  will  we  do  with  this  guard?" 

Brooks  had  forgotten  all  about  him  for  the  moment,  being 
taken  up  with  his  dreams  of  a  rich  claim  awaiting  them ;  but 
coming  back  to  him  with  a  shock,  he  said: 

"That's  right.  I  had  forgotten  him.  I  think  the  best 
thing  to  do  would  be  to  accuse  him  of  complicity  in  the 
theft.  He  has  taken  such  a  stand  in  their  behalf  and  they 
have  likely  told  him  everything  by  this  time,  so  the  only  way 
we  can  make  him  be  good  is  to  accuse  him  of  being  a  partner. 
We  caught  them  with  the  gold  on  them  and  the  guard  declared 
that  they  didn't  have  it;  he  even  said  he  would  defend  them 
with  his  life.  So  I  think  we  had  better  accuse  him  and  lock 
him  up  too.  What  do  you  say?" 

"Do  you  want  to  know  my  opinion  of  this  whole  thing, 
Brooks?"  asked  Harding  abruptly  and  seriously. 

"Yes,  but  don't  crawfish  too  soon,"  answered  the  engineer 
nervously,  his  eyes  on  the  ground. 

"Well,  I  believe  you  are  preparing  a  rope  to  hang  your 
self  with,"  said  Harding.  "You  have  bungled  this  job  fright 
fully.  If  you  arrest  Abe  Smith,  or  even  try  to  implicate  him 
in  it,  you  will  have  those  other  three  guards  on  your  back 
in  three  minutes.  He  is  known  too  well  and  your  claims 
wouldn't  do  you  any  good  if  you  got  them,  for  your  bones 
would  be  bleaching  on  the  ground  under  that  big  tree.  You 
may  fool  with  these  tenderfeet,  but  you'd  better  not  try  to 
fool  with  old-timers.  Do  you  get  me?" 

"Yes,  I  never  thought  of  that,"  said  Brooks,  who  was 
looking  a  little  pale.  "Suppose  we  try  money  then?  That 
works  wonders  sometimes,"  he  ventured. 

"Yes,  in  politics  and  many  other  places  it  works  well,  but 
how  it  would  work  with  these  'wild  west  guards'  I  don't 
know." 

"I  believe  it  would  work  all  right,"  squeaked  Brooks, 
though  he  doubted  it  somewhat  himself  and  felt  timid  about  it. 


CAPTURED   BY  THE  ENEMY 73 

"Well,  it's  up  to  you  to  try  it  and  that  part  must  be 
taken  care  of  before  I  make  another  move.  Occupying  as 
I  do  the  position  of  general  manager  of  this  big  and  paying 
mine,  I  can't  afford  to  get  mixed  up  in  any  trifling  thing 
that  can't  be  successfully  pulled  off,"  walking  to  the  door 
and  looking  down  into  the  pit  to  see  if  the  men  were  at  work 
again. 

"Leave  that  to  me ;  I  will  take  care  of  the  guard,"  replied 
Brooks,  "but  don't  call  this  a  'trifling  thing.'  You  know  it 
is  the  opinion  of  the  best  informed  mining  men  around  here 
that  this  ancient  river  channel  flowed  toward  Gold  Run,  and 
if  so,  there  is  virgin  ground  between  here  and  there,  just  as 
good,  or  better,  than  we  are  working  right  here,  and  you 
know  what  this  is." 

"I  take  that  for  granted  and  from  the  looks  of  these  sam 
ples  (taking  them  from  his  pocket  again  and  looking  at 
them),  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  they  have  found  something 
mighty  good.  But  I  fear  the  chances  of  your  success  are 
few." 

"Got  cold  feet  already,  have  you?"  snarled  the  engineer. 
"I  suppose  you  would  be  willing  to  slip  in  on  something  easy, 
where  someone  else  carries  the  deal  through." 

"Don't  talk  like  that  to  me,  sir,"  said  Harding  in  anger. 
"You  take  that  back,  or  I  will  wash  my  hands  of  this  whole 
matter  and  turn  those  men  loose.  You  will  be  looking  for 
a  job,  too." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Harding;  I  didn't  mean  it  that 
way.  Let's  not  fall  out  over  preliminaries.  This  is  too  good 
a  thing  to  let  slip  away  from  us,"  said  the  engineer,  trying 
to  gain  his  confidence  again. 

"Very  well  then,  be  careful  what  you  say  to  me  and  the 
way  you  say  it,"  replied  Harding.  "I  shall  await  the  results 
of  your  efforts  to  bribe  the  guard,  and  if  you  bungle  that. 
I  am  done  with  it." 


74 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Don't  use  the  word  'bribe.'  I  will  simply  pay  him  for 
his  services  or  take  him  in  on  the  deal  for  some  part  of  it." 

"Well,  don't  forget  that  this  must  be  handled  with  gloves 
on,"  said  the  manager.  "In  my  position  I  can't  afford  to  get 
mixed  up  in  a  scandal.  If  you  can  satisfy  that  guard  and 
get  his  co-operation,  I  think  I  can  see  a  way  out  by  just  scar 
ing  those  men  into  revealing  the  location  of  the  claims." 

This  pleased  Brooks  immensely,  and  he  said:  "All  right, 
Mr.  Harding,  you  hang  around  the  office  until  I  see  Smith. 
Now  that  we  have  the  men  locked  up  we  can  proceed  a  little 
slower  and  be  more  certain  of  what  we  are  doing.  I  had  to 
act  too  quickly  before  to  lay  my  plans  well,"  he  said  as  he 
left  the  office. 

Mr.  Harding  went  over  to  the  boarding  house  for  his 
supper,  while  the  engineer  made  for  the  jail  to  see  if  the 
guard  was  there  yet.  Finding  that  he  also  had  gone  to  his 
supper,  he  pushed  his  way  through  the  crowd  to  ask  for  an 
interview  with  Mr.  Manning.  A  crowd  always  gathered  at 
the  jail  when  arrests  or  shootings  took  place,  as  they  were 
about  the  only  excitements  in  a  mining  camp  in  those  early 
days. 

Brooks  called  the  jailer  and  told  him  he  wanted  to  speak 
with  Mr.  Manning.  He  was  not  aware  of  the  things  which 
had  taken  place  at  lightning  speed  while  he  had  been  talking 
to  Harding  at  the  office,  or  he  would  not  have  ventured  near 
the  jail. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 

"Are  you  sure,  Mr.  Bass,"  asked  Lew  with  an  expression 
of  deep  concern  on  his  young  face,  "that  these  stakes  driven 
at  the  corners  and  this  location  notice  posted  on  that  tree 
is  all  we  need  to  do  to  hold  these  claims?" 

The  marshal  laughed  and  replied  emphatically :  "I  cer 
tainly  am.  That  is  all  that  is  usually  required  in  this  section." 

"Pardon  his  impudence  in  asking  so  many  questions,"  put 
in  Mrs.  Manning,  as  she  stood  by  watching  them  stake  off 
the  claim.  "You  know  he  is  but  a  boy,"  and  yet  she  was 
just  as  anxious  about  it  herself. 

"Not  so  much  of  a  boy  after  all,  when  it  comes  to  good 
sound  horse  sense,"  replied  the  marshal,  still  laughing.  "He 
knows  as  well  as  the  rest  of  us  that  there  is  going  to  be  a 
good  hard  fight  for  these  claims  and  he  wants  to  be  sure  of 
his  ground,  as  he  will  have  to  take  the  place  of  his  father, 
who  is  falsely  imprisoned." 

"It  does  me  good  to  see  you  beat  that  engineer  to  it,"  put 
in  Jim,  the  Gold  Run  watchman,  who  had  watched  the  pro 
ceedings,  as  Lew,  his  mother,  Marshal  Bass  and  Abe  Smith, 
the  Dutch  Flat  guard  who  had  been  compelled  to  lock  up 
the  two  men,  finished  staking  out  the  claims  upon  the  land 
where  the  children  had  found  the  gold  earlier  in  the  day. 

"This  is  a  free  country,"  said  Smith,  patting  the  boy  on 
the  shoulder,  "and  we  are  all  supposed  to  get  a  square  deal 
here.  Mr.  Manning  did  not  get  a  square  deal  and  is  simply 
a  victim  of  circumstances  or  a  plot.  Besides,  this  is  Gov 
ernment  land  and  gold  claims  belong  to  the  people  who  find 
them  first,  so  I  have  no  patience  with  crooks  like  that  engi 
neer.  I  think  we  have  him  foul  now." 

75 


76 WINNING  A   FORTUNE 

"But  do  you  think  Harding  is  mixed  up  with  him?"  asked 
the  watchman,  somewhat  puzzled. 

"I'm  not  certain.  I  did  not  think  so  at  first,  but  it  is  true 
he  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  two  men  and  took  possession 
of  the  gold.  It  don't  look  just  right  to  me  yet." 

"What  stand  did  he  take  in  the  matter?"  asked  the  mar 
shal,  who  felt  certain  that  Harding  was  implicated  in  it. 

"I  noticed  that  he  was  quite  unreasonable  and  seemed 
mighty  glad  to  get  the  men  locked  up,"  remarked  the  guard, 
scratching  his  head  as  if  to  think  the  circumstances  all  over 
again.  "But  you  must  remember  that  this  'high-grading' 
business  is  pretty  trying  to  superintendents  and  managers  of 
mining  properties.  They  are  responsible  to  their  superiors 
and  have  to  hold  their  jobs ;  so  to  make  it  appear  that  they 
are  not  in  the  business  themselves,  they  have  to  make  a  big 
fuss  over  each  man,  especially  if  he  is  caught  red-handed  in 
the  theft." 

"Do  you  think  they  can  hold  my  husband  on  this  charge  ?" 
anxiously  asked  Mrs.  Manning,  grasping  at  every  word  that 
was  said. 

"That  depends,"  said  Smith  thoughtfully.  "They  may  lay 
down  when  they  see  you  have  beat  them  to  the  claims  and 
try  to  cover  up  their  tracks.  Then  again  they  might  fight 
all  the  harder,  just  for  revenge;  anyway,  Mrs.  Manning,  you 
can  depend  on  my  standing  by  you.  I  won't  see  innocent 
people  suffer  if  I  know  it  and  can  help  it." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Smith.  I  am  convinced  that  you  are 
a  man  of  honor,"  said  Mrs.  Manning,  "and  if  we  get  any 
thing  out  of  this  mine,  I  will  see  that  you  are  taken  care  of." 

"Please  don't  say  a  word  of  that  kind,  Mrs.  Manning," 
quickly  returned  the  guard.  "People  would  say  I  was  bribed. 
I  want  to  help  you  because  I  see  you  are  wronged  and  I 
couldn't  possibly  think  of  accepting  a  thing  from  you." 

"I  didn't  mean  it  in  any  wrong  sense ;  I  simply  wanted 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 77 

to  treat  you  right,"  she  replied,  trying  to  smooth  over  the 
mistake  she  had  made. 

"I  understand  what  you  mean  and  it  will  be  all  right/' 
he  replied. 

"But  this  thing  is  not  over  yet,  for  my  husband  is  still 
locked  up.  I  may  need  your  assistance  further  and  you  can't 
give  us  your  time  for  nothing." 

The  guard  saw  her  anxiety  and  said  quickly:  "You  will 
get  all  the  help  I  can  give  and  it  will  be  without  charge  as 
long  as  I  know  I  am  in  the  right.  I  believe  your  husband 
is  innocent  and  the  victim  of  a  plot,  so  I  am  helping  him; 
but  if  I  thought  he  was  guilty,  I  would  be  just  as  much 
against  him  as  I  am  for  him  now." 

"You  can  depend  on  what  this  man  says,  Mrs.  Manning," 
put  in  the  marshal  assuringly.  "I  have  known  him  for  some 
time  and  he  has  always  been  square." 

"Well,  now  that  we  have  a  breathing  spell  and  everything 
is  safe  here,  I  would  like  to  understand  a  little  more  about 
this,"  continued  the  guard,  who  was  a  small,  keen-eyed,  dark 
complexioned  man.  "As  I  understand  it,  three  men  came 
to  your  camp  wagon  at  the  same  time  and  all  for  the  same 
purpose — Marshal  Bass,  the  watchman,  Jim,  from  Gold  Run, 
and  myself — and'  it  has  not  been  over  three  or  four  hours 
since  the  whole  thing  started." 

"Well,  I  can  easily  explain  my  presence  there,"  put  in 
the  marshal,  throwing  back  his  coat  and  displaying  his  star. 
"I  was  making  my  rounds  and  met  young  Manning  running 
toward  his  home  very  much  excited.  I  knew  him  to  be  the 
son  of  Mr.  Manning,  so  I  asked  him  what  all  the  hurry  was 
about.  He  said  his  father  had  told  him  not  to  talk  about  it. 
He  then  told  me  how  he  and  the  other  two  children  had 
found  certain  pieces  of  gold  while  they  were  playing  at  Gold 
Run  and  how  the  engineer  had  tried  to  make  him  tell  where 
the  place  was.  He  said  he  refused  to  tell  him,  and  the  engi- 


78 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

neer  discharged  him  with  a  threat  to  shoot  him  if  he  ever 
came  back  on  the  company's  property.  He  had  also  threat 
ened  to  make  it  hot  for  his  father  if  the  boy  did  not  tell, 
etc.  I  just  told  the  boy  to  go  on  home  and  not  let  any  one 
bluff  him,  that  if  he  had  found  any  gold  bearing  claims,  they 
were  his  and  that  he  would  have  the  protection  of  the  law, 
the  best  that  I  could  give  him." 

Pausing  for  a  moment  to  light  a  cigar,  the  marshal  con 
tinued  his  story. 

"Then  I  passed  the  matter  off,  thinking  no  more  about 
it,  but  later,  seeing  a  crowd  at  the  jail,  I  thought  I  would 
go  and  see  what  it  was  all  about.  Just  as  I  came  up  I  passed 
the  engineer,  who  was  going  towards  his  boarding  house  and 
heard  him  say  to  the  bystanders :  'We  caught  them  with  the 
goods  on.  They  are  red-handed  crooks.'  I  walked  around 
to  where  I  could  see  into  the  cell  and  there  were  Manning 
and  Sprouls !  I  stepped  up  to  the  door  and  asked  Manning 
what  the  trouble  was  and  he  told  me  all  about  it.  He  said 
the  engineer  was  trying  to  make  it  appear  that  he  had  stolen 
the  gold,  but  he  couldn't  figure  out  the  object  of  the  arrest. 

"I  told  him  what  the  boy  had  told  me  and  then  it  was 
clear  to  both  of  us,"  continued  the  marshal.  "Manning  asked 
me  if  he  could  trust  me  and  when  I  told  him  that  he  could, 
he  asked  me  to  get  the  proper  papers  for  the  location  of  the 
claims  and  to  take  his  wife  and  children  along  and  stake 
them  off.  So  I  stepped  in  next  door  and  got  these  papers 
and  Mr.  Manning  signed  them.  I  agreed  to  see  they  were 
properly  put  up  for  him  and  with  the  help  of  you  other  men 
we  have  done  the  job  and  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  done 
right.  Now,  how  came  you  here,  Jim?"  he  asked  at  the  con 
clusion  of  his  tale. 

"Well,  as  to  my  bein'  here,"  said  the  watchman,  "I  will 
say  that  when  this  man  Brooks  came  down  to  Gold  Run. 
ridin'  the  general  manager's  horse,  and  lookin'  fur  tracks  in 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 79 

the  sand,  I  suspected  that  he  was  lookin'  for  something  he 
didn't  know  much  about,  for  he  was  so  busy  he  rode  right 
onto  our  property  and  didn't  even  see  me  until  I  covered 
him  with  my  gun  and  asked  him  what  he  wanted.  He  hemmed 
and  hawed  for  a  while,  but  I  made  him  talk  and  then  he 
said  some  children  had  been  stealing  gold  from  his  claims 
and  he  was  looking  for  them.  When  I  asked  him  where  his 
claims  were,  he  refused  to  tell  me.  Then  I  recognized  him 
as  the  engineer  at  Dutch  Flat  and  I  knew  that  he  had  no 
claims  here.  From  his  actions  I  could  tell  there  was  some- 
thin'  wrong.  He  tried  to  get  me  to  tell  him  where  the  chil 
dren  had  been  that  day  and  which  way  they  went,  but  I 
suspected  he  was  up  to  some  mischief  and  told  him  to  git 
out,  so  he  went. 

"You  see,  the  children  had  told  me  who  they  were  and 
where  they  were  camping.  They  also  said  they  had  just  come 
from  the  East,  so  I  knew  they  were  tenderfeet ;  and  after  the 
engineer  had  left  here  I  rushed  right  up  there  to  tell  them 
of  his  visit  and  to  find  out  what  the  trouble  was  if  I  could. 
I  told  them  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  him,  for  I  had  known 
him  a  long  time  and  knew  his  record  in  this  section  for  mak 
ing  trouble  with  people  over  their  claims  and  locations  was 
bad  and  that  he  needed  watching. 

"When  I  got  there  I  found  you  men  there  just  ahead 
of  me,  so  I  decided  to  see  the  whole  thing  through  and  came 
along  with  you.  Now  I  will  make  a  record  of  the  locations. 
Seven  claims  I  believe  you  have  located  for  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Manning.  Are  you  sure  that  that  is  enough  ground  to  pro 
tect  your  interests?"  asked  the  watchman  as  he  took  out  his 
book  and  wrote  down-  the  number. 

"Well,  I   want  to  stake  two  more  claims,  one   for  Jack 
Winters  and  one  for  John  Sprouls,  so  that  we  can  all  be  near . 
together,"  replied  Mrs.  Manning,  and  so  the  men  staked  off 
the  other  two  claims  in  accordance  with  her  wishes. 


80 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Now,  I  will  explain  how  I  came  to  be  here,"  said  the 
Dutch  Flat  guard.  "In  the  first  place,  I  suspected  there  was 
something  wrong  from  the  actions  of  the  engineer  when  he 
demanded  the  arrest  of  the  two  men.  He  knew  too  much 
about  that  gold  and  where  it  was  to  suit  me.  I  knew  the 
men  hadn't  been  at  work  long  enough  and  that  we  hadn't 
had  time  yet  to  uncover  the  gold  but,  of  course,  when  they 
found  the  gold  in  Manning's  pocket,  and  when  both  the 
general  manager  and  the  engineer  were  against  me,  all  I 
could  do  was  to  take  the  men  to  jail,  as  much  as  I  hated 
to  do  it."  Hesitating  a  moment  as  if  to  think  it  all  over  again, 
he  continued : 

"On  the  way  I  asked  them  where  the  gold  came  from 
and  they  told  me.  Then  it  was  all  clear  to  me  and  as  soon 
as  I  had  finished  my  supper  I  decided  to  hunt  up  the  family 
and  tell  them  of  the  frame-up,  so  they  could  beat  that  engi 
neer  to  it  and  I  would  then  try  to  get  the  release  of  the 
men,  but  now,  with  this  combined  evidence,  we  will  get  them 
released  soon  without  a  doubt. 

"Now  that  you  are  located  here,"  continued  Smith  after 
a  moment's  pause  in  which  all  had  been  thinking  of  how 
the  liberation  of  the  men  could  be  brought  about,  "to  protect 
yourselves  you  had  better  place  a  guard  out  here,  for  this  is 
a  wild  country,  and  it's  hard  telling  what  those  fellows  might 
do  to  gain  their  ends  or  for  revenge  when  they  find  they 
are  "defeated." 

While  the  three  men  were  busy  arranging  for  a  guard, 
Lew  Manning  lost  no  time  in  getting  the  family  settled.  He 
pulled  the  tent  from  the  wagon  which  they  had  brought 
with  them  and  started  to  put  it  up  with  his  mother's  assist 
ance.  This  was  soon  done,  as  they  had  put  it  up  many  times 
before  in  crossing  the  plains. 

"Oh,  look,  Mrs.  Manning,"  cried  Myrtle,  as  she  came  run 
ning  up  with  another  large  piece  of  gold  in  her  hand.  "I 
found  another  one  and  Bobbie  has  a  whole  hat  full  of  'em." 


81 


They  all  looked  in  astonishment.  No  one  had  seen  any 
gold  or  even  a  trace  of  it  while  staking  out  the  claims  and 
putting  up  the  locations.  Lew  had  been  very  cautious  and 
had  simply  said  that  this  was  the  ground,  but  did  not  approach 
the  exact  tree  where  he  had  found  the  gold,  for  he  already 
had  learned  not  to  trust  everybody  in  this  new  country. 
While  he  thought  these  men  were  all  right,  still  he  did  not 
think  they  needed  to  know  the  exact  spot,  but  the  children 
had  not  been  so  cautious,  and  while  the  rest  were  busy  they 
had  set  themselves  to  work  and  had  made  a  good  day's  wages 
in  mining  already. 

"My  heavens,"  said  the  guard  in  astonishment,  "just  look 
in  that  kid's  hat !"  For  there  were  no  less  than  five  hundred 
dollars  in  nuggets,  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  walnut, 
many  of  them  worth  ten  to  twenty  dollars  each. 

"Where  did  you  get  all  of  that  dough,  boy?"  he  asked,  in 
surprise. 

"Over  there  by  that  tree,"  said  Bobbie.  Everybody  made 
a  rush  for  the  tree.  The  roots  were  exposed,  the  washing 
water  having  cut  away  the  earth  and  the  sand  and  gravel  had 
filled  in  and  lodged  there.  With  it  were  large  quantities  of 
gold,  which  the  children  had  accidentally  found  while  digging 
in  the  sand  around  the  roots. 

"Great  heavens!"  the  guard  fairly  shouted,  "just  look 
under  that  tree!  There  must  be  thousands  of  dollars  lodged 
there!"  and  everyone  craned  his  neck  to  take  a  look  at  this 
fortune  which  lay  at  their  feet. 

"That  is  the  best  find  in  this  locality,"  put  in  the  Gold 
Run  watchman.  "I  have  looked  this  ground  over  several 
times  and  so  have  others,  but  no  one  has  ever  found  any  gold 
here.  I  didn't  think  there  was  much  here  even  while  we 
were  staking  the  claims,  for  I  was  watching  all  the  time." 

"Please  don't  touch  it,"  cried  Lew.    "Please  leave  it  where 


82  _  WINNING  A  FORTUNE  _ 

it  is  tonight.  Let's  cover  it  up  with  sand,  for  it  is  mute 
easily  guarded  that  way  and  I  want  my  faifcf  •'  to  be  here 
when  it  is  taken  out.**  They  consented  to  this  and  Ac  gold 
was  coveted  with  sand,  the  wagon  backed  up  jgjinst  the  tree 
on  one  side  and  the  tent  pitched  on  the  other. 

"Mr.  Bass,"  continued  Lew,  turning  to  the  •••*•  *!•*!,  "as 
you  i  etui  11  to  Dutch  Flat,  win  yon  plrasr  stop  at  the  old 
camp  ground,  where  you  wul  find  several  of  the  men  who 
came  across  the  plains  with  us,  and  send  me  a  guard  of  five 
men  £toui  among  them?  And  please,  don't  an*  of  yon  men 
tion  this  to  a  soul  until  father  is  oat  here  with  us." 
::  ~.~~ 


would  respect  his  wishes  and  departed  to  their  ic&peUivc 
places. 

In  the  meantime  George  Brooks,  the  company"  s  engineer, 
had  made  an  effort  to  locate  the  guard  who  took  Ac  two 
men  to  jail,  but  not  finding-  him,  had  sought  an  interview  with 
1  ne  minute  he  laid  his  eves  on  the 


neer  John  Sprouts  started  to  give  him  a  portion  of  his 
but  he  was  stopped  by  Mr.  Manning,  who  was  as  cool  and 
imconcei'iicd  as  though  he  was  in  his  own  home  hark  in  old 
Missouri.  He  looked  the  engineer  squarely  in  the  eye,  hot 
ncvu  moved  a  muscle,  and  Brooks  nrafll  dropped.  Manning 
observed  closely  die  gieat  scar  on  his  face  and  he  thongnt 
he  knew  how  it  got  there.  Brooks  gouty  conscience  evi 
dently  smote  him,  for  he  could  not  look  the  ini 


in  the  face,  but  tried  to  uiry  his  bluff  anyway  by  saying: 
M.  am  ioti*.  Maiming,  but  I  had  to  do  it.     There 

nothing  else  to  do. 

"What  do  yon  mean?"  pretending  not  to  understand 
That  I  had  to  lock  yon  up.     Your  chances  arc  ptctty 

sum,  for  yon  were  cauglil  with  the  gold  in  your  pocket," 

ausweied  Brooks  in  his  soueaky  toice. 

"Don't  worry,  sir.    I  would  rather  be  in  my  place  here, 


A   SCRAP   FOR  THE  CLAIMS S3 

knowing  I  am  innocent,  than  to  be  in  yours,"  coolly  replied 
Manning.    "There  will  be  a  day  of  reckoning." 

"Yes,  but  you  are  locked  up  and  the  evidence  is  strong 
against  you.  You  are  likely  to  be  swinging  from  the  end 
of  a  rope  before  long,  for  fliat  is  the  way  we  serve  'high- 
graders'  in  this  country,"  said  Brooks,  trying  to  scare  the 
men. 

"That's  all  right,"  replied  Manning.  "You  are  having 
your  laugh  now,  but  I  expect  to  have  mine  later.  Let  me 
ask  you  one  question." 

"Out  with  it,"  growled  the  engineer. 

"Did  you  ever  read  in  a  certain  sacred  book  about  a  man 
who  built  a  scaffold  to  hang  another  man  on,  and  who  got 
hung  on  it  himself  instead?  Let  me  admonish  you  to  be 
careful,  for  history  sometimes  repeats  itself." 

The  engineer  .remembered  the  story  of  Haitian's  scaffold 
in  the  Bible,  but  he  only  said,  "What  do  you  mean?"  pre 
tending  not  to  understand,  but  at  the  same  time  a  cold  chill 
passed  down  his  back  that  made  him  shiver  all  over. 

"If  you  don't  know  now,  I  think  you  will  by  this  time 
tomorrow,"  was  the  reply.  "The  evidence  is  not  all  on  one 
side,  I'd  have  you  know." 

"I  come  over  to  talk  business,  Mr.  Manning,  not  to  par 
ley,"  said  Brooks,  hoping  to  get  a  compromise  on  the  claims 
for  the  release  of  the  men. 

"I  didn't  know  we  had  any  business  to  talk  about,"  replied 
Manning,  still  eying  him  closely. 

"Didn't  I  promise  you  I'd  help  stake  out  some  claims?" 
ventured  Brooks. 

"But  what  has  that  to  do  with  my  being  in  this  cell?" 

"Everything,  sir!"  came  the  reply,  quickly. 

"Indeed!  Then  you  admit  that  I  did  not  steal  the  gold 
that  was  found  in  my  pocket  from  the  company,  as  you 
charged  me  with?" 


84 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"You  know  where  that  gold  came  from  and  so  do  I.  We 
will  not  discuss  that.  You  are  in  here  and  you  know  the 
nature  of  the  charge  against  you  and  how  serious  it  is.  There 
is  just  one  man  who  can  get  you  out  of  here,  and  that  is 
myself,"  mustering  his  courage  again  in  hopes  of  a  compro 
mise. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  about  that.  You  seemed  mighty  anxious 
to  get  us  in  here,  now  why  are  you  so  anxious  to  get  us  out 
if  we  are  as  guilty  as  you  say?  It  looks  rather  suspicious, 
Brooks,"  replied  the  prisoner,  coldly. 

"Neither  do  I  care  to  discuss  that.  I  came  to  see  you 
about  those  claims,"  trying  to  force  Manning  to  listen  to  him. 

"What  claims  are  you  talking  about?" 

"Oh,  you  know  very  well  that  I  mean  the  claims  from 
which  that  gold  came." 

"Why,  I  thought  you  staked  them  out  when  you  rode  away 
on  the  general  manager's  horse  a  little  while  ago,"  said  Man 
ning,  determined  to  let  him  know  that  his  actions  had  been 
observed. 

"Nothing  of  the  kind,"  retorted  the  engineer,  surprised 
that  his  efforts  had  reached  the  men  in  jail  so  quickly. 

Manning  continued  cunningly,  "Didn't  my  son  tell  you 
where  they  were  when  you  were  out  surveying?" 

"No,"  snapped  the  engineer.  "That  is  the  most  impudent 
brat  I  ever  saw." 

"Didn't  the  Gold  Run  watchman  show  you  where  they 
were  and  help  you  stake  them  out?"  asked  Manning  again, 
who  was  enjoying  the  engineer's  discomfiture. 

"I  told  you  that  I  did  not  know  where  they  were  and  1 
don't  understand  what  you  are  trying  to  get  at,"  he  growled, 
and  both  prisoners  laughed. 

"Well,  what  are  you  laughing  at  ?  I  don't  see  what  you  are 
trying  to  get  at  anyway,"  pretending  ignorance. 

"Well,   then,   I'll  tell  you   about   something  that  you   do 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 85 

remember,  and  possibly  will  for  some  time  to  come,  if  you 
want  to  .hear  it." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  the  engineer  cautiously,  fearing 
that  more  of  his  actions  might  be  known. 

"I  guess  you  remember  how  it  is  to  look  down  my  son's 
rifle  barrel,  don't  you?"  asked  Manning,  and  his  eyes  sparkled 
with  joy  at  the  chance  to  pay  Brooks  back  in  his  own  coin. 

The  engineer's  face  reddened  and  his  head  dropped.  He 
was  speechless,  while  the  two  prisoners  laughed  again. 

"Come  now,"  he  said,  as  he  gathered  himself  together 
and  endeavored  to  change  the  subject,  "let's  drop  this  fool 
ishness  and  get  down  to  business.  I  have  a  proposition  to 
make  you." 

"Well,  let's  have  it,  but  I  think  it's  useless,"  replied  Man 
ning. 

"Here  you  men  are  in  this  cell  and  you  can't  get  out 
without  my  help.  Now  I'll  get  you  out  on  one  condition, 
and  that  is  that  you  tell  me  the  exact  location  of  those 
mining  claims,"  coming  squarely  out  in  the  open  with  his 
bluff. 

Mr.  Manning  smiled  and  Sprouls  gave  expression  to  an 
oath,  adding,  "Wouldn't  that  jar  you?"  as  he  stroked  his 
beard  rapidly. 

"How  can  we  tell  you,  when  we  don't  know  ourselves? 
We  never  saw  them,  and  wouldn't  know  them  if  we  did." 

"Your  children  know.  Have  them  tell  me,"  demanded 
Brooks. 

"What  do  you  want  to  know  for?  Do  you  mean  to  beat 
us  to  them  and  take  them  for  yourself?  You  told  me  this 
afternoon  you  were  my  friend  and  would  help  us.  If  that's 
the  kind  of  friend  you  are,  I  don't  care  for  your  help,"  replied 
Manning  sarcastically. 

"That,  sir,  is  business  in  this  western  country.  Remember, 
you  haven't  got  those  claims  yet.  The  first  location  holds 


86 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

and  now  that  I  have  a  chance  to  make  you  tell  me  where  they 
are,  I'm  going  to  do  it,"  defiantly. 

"You  may  think  so,  but  I  don't.  You'll  have  to  'fix'  that 
guard  first  and  then  I  would  advise  you  to  see  Marshal  Bass 
as  soon  as  possible.  When  you  have  'bought'  those  two  men, 
then  come  back  and  I  will  be  ready  to  talk  business  with  you, 
but  be  sure  you  bring  them  along  when  you  are  ready  to 
close  the  deal.  We  will  want  a  couple  of  witnesses,  as  we 
have  here  in  this  case,"  finished  Manning  with  a  broad  smile. 

Looking  around,  the  engineer  saw  two  men  standing  close 
by  who  had  overheard  the  whole  conversation ! 

"Gentlemen,"  continued  Manning  to  the  strangers,  "I  don't 
know  who  you  are,  but  you  look  like  honest  men.  You  have 
heard  all  this  fellow  has  said,  and  I  will  want  you  for  wit 
nesses  tomorrow.  Will  you  kindly  give  me  your  names?" 

The  men  obligingly  wrote  their  names  on  a  piece  of  paper 
and  passed  it  through  the  bars  to  Manning,  who  replied, 
"Thank  you,  but  take  notice  that  this  man  is  the  engineer 
for  the  company  on  the  hydraulic  works  over  yonder,"  indi 
cating  the  company's  office  with  a  nod  of  his  head.  "Look 
well  at  that  scar  on  his  face,  so  you  will  be  able  to  identify 
him." 

The  engineer,  frustrated,  hurriedly  left  the  jail  without 
another  word.  On  his  way  to  the  boarding  house,  he  made 
inquiries  for  the  guard  Smith  and  Marshal  Bass,  but  neither 
of  them  could  be  found.  When  he  reached  the  house  he 
found  the  general  manager,  who  had  finished  his  supper,  was 
still  sitting  at  the  table,  talking  with  some  other  men.  Brooks 
tapped  him  on  the  shoulder  and  motioned  him  to  come  out 
side. 

"Do  you  know  where  Abe  Smith  went?"  he  asked  excit 
edly,  after  they  were  out  of  hearing.  "I  can't  find  him  any 
where." 

"No,   I  haven't  seen  him.     They  said  he  ate  his  supper 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 87 

before  I  came  over  and  hurried  out,"  replied  Harding. 
Brooks'  face  fell. 

"Then  have  you  seen  Marshal  Bass?" 

"Yes,  he  passed  me  on  my  way  to  the  boarding  house, 
walking  very  fast  in  the  direction  of  the  campers,  just  over 
the  ridge,"  said  Harding. 

"Thunderation !"  exclaimed  the  engineer. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  the  manager,  noticing  the  pale 
face  of  his  pal.  Brooks  tried  to  regain  his  composure  and 
stammered : 

"Nothing,  only  I  did  not  want  Bass  to  beat  me  over  there ; 
that  is,  I  wanted  him  to  go,  but  I  wanted  to  see  him  first/' 

"How  are  you  coming  with  the  job?  For  heaven's  sake, 
don't  bungle  it  any  worse,"  for  Harding  was  all  business. 

"Well,  you  know  that  business  is  business  and  just  so  we 
get  those  claims  located  first,  it  doesn't  matter  how  we  do 
it,"  stammered  Brooks. 

"I'm  afraid,  Brooks,  that  you're  biting  off  a  pretty  big 
mouthful,"  for  he  saw  that  the  engineer  was  badly  worried. 

"Not  if  you  don't  get  cold  feet.  There's  one  thing  that 
I  think  we  ought  to  do  at  once,  though,"  as  his  face  began 
to  regain  its  natural  color. 

"What's  that?"  asked  Harding,  wondering  what  he  would 
try  next. 

"Well,  I  presume  that  Marshal  Bass  has  gone  down  to 
the  camp  to  tell  the  families  of  these  men  that  they  are  in 
jail." 

"Does  he  know  anything  about  the  circumstances?" 

"Not  that  I  know  of,  but  I  thought  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  us  to  go  down  there  while  the  marshal  is  there  and 
see  those  children.  They'll  have  to  be  good  while  he  is  there 
and  I  think  we  can  scare  the  information  we  want  out  of  them 
that  way,"  remembering  his  former  visit  there,  but  not  wish 
ing  to  give  it  up  yet. 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


"Well,  you  go  and  eat  your  supper  and  I'll  take  a  run 
down  to  the  pit  and  see  how  the  evening  shift  is  coming  on 
with  the  clean-up,"  replied  Harding. 

"That  won't  do,  Mr.  Harding.  I'm  not  hungry,  and  it's 
very  important  that  we  act  at  once.  Fifteen  minutes  may  be 
too  late." 

"Come  on  then,  and  if  this  thing  fails,  you  won't  have  a 
chance  to  lay  it  onto  me,"  answered  Harding,  for  he  felt  sure 
that  Brooks  had  lost  all  possible  chance  to  win  out. 

They  started  towards  the  camping  ground  over  the  ridge 
and  in  a  few  minutes  came  in  sight  of  the  wagons.  There 
were  many  campers  there,  but  it  did  not  take  Brooks  long 
to  discover  that  the  Mannings'  tent  and  wagon  were  gone  and 
fresh  tracks  in  the  dust  gave  evidence  that  the  Missouri 
schooner  had  gone  in  the  direction  of  Gold  Run. 

They  looked  at  each  other  in  disgust.  Harding  glanced  at 
his  watch,  then  up  at  the  sun,  which  was  just  disappearing 
behind  the  coast  range  of  mountains. 

"The  jig  is  up,"  he  snarled.  "We  can't  go  after  them 
alone  in  the  night  without  a  guard  and  they  will  have  the 
claims  staked  before  we  can  get  there  anyhow.  You  bungle 
things  the  worst  ever." 

"Damn  it,  beat  again,"  said  Brooks  angrily,  his  face  black 
with  rage. 

Just  then  a  shot  rang  out  close  by,  loud  and  keen.  It 
startled  the  two  men  so  badly  that  they  almost  fell  to  the 
ground  and  hardly  knew  whether  they  were  hit  or  not. 

Marshal  Bass  and  Abe  Smith,  the  guard,  were  just  return 
ing  from  the  newly  found  mining  camp  at  Gold  Run.  Some  of 
the  campers  saw  the  engineer  and  knowing  him  to  be  the  man 
who  had  bothered  the  Mannings  a  few  hours  before,  supposed 
he  was  coming  back  to  make  more  trouble.  They  also  saw 
Smith  and  Marshal  Bass  coming  from  the  opposite  direction 
and  one  of  the  campers,  becoming  somewhat  excited,  reached 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 89 

into  his  wagon  for  his  gun.  In  his  hurry  he  struck  the  ham 
mer  against  the  wagon  wheel  and  discharged  the  gun.  For 
tunately,  no  one  was  injured,  aside  from  the  engineer,  who 
was  badly  frightened.  He  had  suddenly  remembered  the 
words  of  young  Manning,  who  had  told  him  never  to  return 
to  the  camp,  and  he  thought  perhaps  the  boy  was  making 
good  his  threat  and  that  the  shot  had  been  meant  for  him. 

"What  are  you  jumping  about  that  way  for?"  inquired  the 
marshal  of  Brooks,  and  they  all  joined  in  a  laugh. 

"I  guess  he  thought  he  needed  it,"  put  in  the  guard. 

"Where  in  h — 1  have  you  fellows  been  all  this  time?"  de 
manded  the  general  manager.  "What  have  you  been  doing?" 

"Oh,  just  out  for  a  walk,"  replied  Smith. 

"The  circumstances  look  suspicious,"  snapped  the  engineer. 
"Where  are  the  Mannings?" 

"I  thought  you  had  them  locked  up  in  jail,"  replied  the 
marshal. 

"I  know  we  have  a  couple  of  high-graders  there,  but 
where  are  their  families?"  for  he  wanted  to  find  out  if  they 
had  gone  to  the  claims. 

"Oh,  they  have  moved  down  on  their  own  claims,"  said 
Bass.  "They  have  just  staked  out  something  pretty  good. 
We  were  just  down  looking  at  it  and  I  wouldn't  care  if  I 
was  in  on  it  myself,"  with  a  look  of  satisfaction. 

"You  don't  mean  to  tell  me  that  they  have  gone  down 
there  and  jumped  my  claims?"  demanded  the  engineer,  strik 
ing  his  fist  into  his  left  hand,  while  his  face  colored  up  as  if 
he  wanted  to  fight.  "If  they  have,  there  will  be  something 
doing." 

"Well,  we  saw  their  claims,  and  now  if  you  will  tell  us 
where  yours  are  located,  we'll  tell  you  whether  they  jumped 
yours  or  not,"  replied  the  marshal,  who  saw  that  the  engineer 
was  trying  to  work  him  with  the  same  old  gag. 

"Yes,  here's  another  one  trying  to  find  out  the  location 


90 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

of  my  claims.  I  find  that  I  can't  trust  anyone  any  more," 
fumed  the  engineer.  "I  suppose  now  that  you  want  to  jump 
them." 

"Look  here!  Do  you  know  who  you're  talking  to?" 
demanded  the  marshal,  as  he  pulled  back  his  coat,  displaying 
his  star.  "If  you  mean  to  insinuate  that  I  am  a  crook,  I  am 
quite  sure  there  will  be  something  doing  and  that  right  now," 
and  he  started  towards  the  other. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Bass !"  came  the  quick  apology. 

"It  is  well  that  you  do  so,"  replied  Bass.  "I  have  been 
here  a  good  while  and  that  is  the  first  time  I  have  been 
branded  a  crook,  or  a  claim  jumper,  which  I  consider  one 
and  the  same  thing." 

"I  did  not  mean  that  you  were  either,"  said  Brooks,  trying 
to  smooth  it  over,  "but  there  have  been  several  people  lately 
who  have  tried  to  jump  my  claims  and  it  has  worried  me 
considerably  here  of  late." 

"Your  claims?"  laughed  the  marshal. 

"Yes,  my  claims,"  sneered  the  crook. 

"If  they  are  yours,  I  presume  you  have  staked  them  and 
have  your  notice  up?"  was  the  guarded  suggestion. 

"No,  I  haven't  done  that  yet." 

"Why  do  you  put  off  a  thing  like  that,  if  your  claim  is 
as  good  as  you  say  it  is?  Aren't  you  afraid  someone  will 
jump  it?" 

"You  know  I  am  the  company's  engineer  and  I  am  tied 
here  pretty  closely.  I  could  not  get  away  until  the  general 
manager  came." 

"I  know  that,  but  when  he  came,  I  saw  you  go  into  the 
office  and  get  some  location  papers,  then  take  his  horse  and 
ride  off.  Now  you  tell  me  you  have  had  no  chance  to  stake 
them.  What  are  you  giving  me,  Mr.  Brooks?" 

"I — I — I  did  not  go  to  stake  them  out  then,"  he  stam 
mered. 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS 91 

"You  didn't?  What  did  you  do  then?"  becoming  dis 
gusted  by  this  time  at  his  hedging. 

"I  went  on  other  business,  of  which  I  will  tell  you  pri 
vately,  if  you  will  give  me  a  moment's  time,"  thinking  to  make 
the  marshal  an  offer. 

"I  will  give  you  a  moment  pretty  soon,  but  I  want  a  few 
things  straightened  out  here  in  the  presence  of  Manager 
Harding  first,"  replied  the  officer. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  demanded  the  engineer,  with  an  air 
of  confidence  he  did  not  feel,  for  he  was  afraid  his  method 
of  bulldozing  was  not  working  just  right. 

"It  is  this :  You  have  no  claims.  Your  whole  story  is  a 
contemptible  lie.  You  saw  that  Manning's  children  had  found 
some  gold  and  you  tried  to  get  them  to  tell  you  where  they 
found  it  so  you  could  beat  them  to  it,  but  all  you  found  out 
was  that  it  came  from  the  vicinity  of  Gold  Run.  Then  you 
saw  Manning  place  the  gold  that  the  children  had  found  in 
his  pocket,  so  you  got  him  to  go  down  on  the  sluice  to  work 
and  you  took  the  manager's  horse  and  some  location  papers 
and  you  tried  to  steal  those  claims,  you  contemptible  thief. 
You  knew  the  Mannings  were  recent  arrivals  and  not  posted 
on  how  to  locate  a  claim,  so  you  went  to  Gold  Run  and  tried 
to  get  the  watchman  there  to  tell  you  where  the  children  got 
the  gold  and  which  way  they  went.  You  were  so  bold  about 
it  that  he  surmised  your  motives  and  ordered  you  to  'hit  the 
trail'  for  Dutch  Flat. 

"Defeated  in  that,  you  came  to  the  camp  wagon  of  the 
Mannings  and  tried  to  scare  the  woman  and  children  into 
telling  you.  After  frightening  her  until  she  fainted,  young 
Manning  covered  you  with  a  rifle  and  made  you  apologize 
to  her.  Then  as  a  last  resort,  you  did  the  dirtiest,  low-down, 
meanest  thing  that  any  man  could  stoop  to  do,  and  that  was 
to  accuse  those  two  men  of  high-grading,  and  have  them 
locked  up  when  you  knew  they  were  innocent.  I  expect  to 


93 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

see  you  in  their  place  if  you  continue  this  lie,"  and  he  paused, 
lacking  for  words  to  express  his  contempt. 

"Yes,  but  we  caught  them  with  the  goods  on  them,"  replied 
Harding,  pulling  the  gold  from  his  pocket.  "Here  it  is. 
Those  men  were  newcomers  and  could  not  have  gotten  it 
anywhere  but  from  the  sluices." 

"That  gold  never  came  from  your  property,  Mr.  Harding," 
replied  the  marshal  cuttingly,  "and  you  listen  to  me  until  I 
finish,  or  you  will  cause  me  to  believe  that  you  are  impli 
cated  with  this  engineer  of  yours." 

Harding  had  made  an  effort  to  defend  his  pal,  but  seeing 
his  failure,  he  tried  to  defend  himself  and  replied : 

"No,  I  am  not  implicated.  If  you  can  enlighten  me,  I 
am  ready  for  it." 

"I  will  enlighten  you,  if  you  will  only  listen  to  me.  That 
gold  which  you  hold  in  your  hands  came  from  near  Gold 
Run  and  was  brought  here  by  Lew  Manning.  It  is  different 
gold  from  that  you  are  recovering  there.  Here,  I  have  a  fine 
specimen  that  I  just  brought  from  those  claims,  which  I  have 
borrowed  from  Mrs.  Manning  to  use  as  evidence  in  proving 
Mr.  Manning  innocent.  Mr.  Smith  has  a  piece  here  also  and 
we  just  secured  them  about  thirty  minutes  ago.  Now  per 
haps  you  want  to  accuse  us  of  high-grading  on  your  sluices  ?" 
Hesitating  a  moment  for  an  answer,  but  receiving  none,  the 
marshal  continued : 

"You  know  a  d — n  sight  better.  When  I  saw  a  crowd 
gathering  around  the  jail,  I  went  over  there,  just  as  the  guard 
was  going  to  his  supper.  I  saw  Mr.  Manning  and  he  told 
me  the  circumstances  and  asked  me,  in  the  name  of  the  law, 
to  assist  him,  so  I  brought  some  location  papers  to  him  from 
the  assay  office  next  door,  which  he  signed.  He  then  asked 
me  to  take  them  to  his  wife  and  tell  her  and  the  children  to 
go  and  put  them  up  on  the  claims.  I  went  to  their  tent  and 
there  I  met  Smith  here  and  Jim,  the  watchman  from  Gold 


A  SCRAP  FOR  THE  CLAIMS  93 

Run — all  there  on  the  same  mission,  to  help  those  people  win 
out  against  this  man  Brooks  and  his  dirty  work. 

"The  three  of  us  accompanied  the  family  to  the  claims 
and  saw  that  the  locations  were  properly  made  and  the  notices 
put  up.  I  shall  furnish  them  with  an  armed  guard  and  see 
that  their  interests  are  protected. 

"And  now,  Mr.  Brooks,  what  have  you  to  say  about  it?" 
continued  the  marshal.  He  waited  a  moment,  but  Brooks 
said  nothing.  "I  am  now  ready  to  have  that  private  word 
with  you,  Brooks." 

"I  have  nothing  to  say,"  was  the  answer. 

"I  have,"  said  the  marshal.  "Mr.  Harding  now  knows 
that  these  men  are  innocent  and  locked  up  without  cause 
upon  a  charge  hatched  up  by  you.  He  knows  that  this  gold 
did  not  come  from  his  sluices,  but  belongs  to  Mr.  Manning. 
I  want  to  give  you  both  fair  warning  that  those  men  must 
be  liberated  and  exonerated  and  that  gold  returned  to  them 
upon  short  notice,  too,  or  I  will  have  a  trump  card  to  play." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Bass,  I  will  look  into  the  matter  at 
once,"  said  Harding.  He  and  the  engineer  turned  and  walked 
towards  the  company's  office. 

"We've  got  those  fellows  on  the  run,"  said  the  marshal, 
as  he  stood  watching  them. 

"Yes,  they  are  beat,  or  at  least  Brooks  is,"  replied  Smith, 
"but  I  don't  understand  the  actions  of  Mr.  Harding." 

To  this  the  officer  replied,  "I  do.  The  general  manager 
is  so  tied  up  with  this  engineer  that  he  thinks  the  company's 
property  can't  be  run  without  him.  If  he  only  knew  the 
truth,  he  would  find  that  it  could  be  run  better  without  him 
than  with  him.  I  have  been  convinced  that  Brooks  was  a 
crook  for  a  long  time.  I  have  enough  evidence  now  to  sat 
isfy  the  manager  if  he  wants  it." 

"There  is  one  thing  that  occurred  to  me  while  you  were 
talking  to  them,  and  that's  the  reason  I  didn't  say  any  more 
than  I  did,"  said  Smith. 


94 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"What  is  that?"  asked  Bass. 

"You  know  I  am  one  of  the  guards  on  watch  at  the 
clean-up.  This  will  probably  cause  me  trouble,  if  the  general 
manager  sides  in  with  Brooks." 

"Don't  let  that  worry  you.  Go  see  the  other  guards,  and 
if  he  tries  to  throw  you  off,  they  will  stand  by  you.  That 
is  easy.  This  clean-up  has  to  go  on.  But  we  are  taking  up 
too  much  time  here.  I  must  get  those  guards  and  send  them 
down  to  the  Manning  camp." 

In  a  short  time  the  men  were  selected  and  on  their  way 
to  Gold  Run. 

It  was  dark  when  the  guards  arrived.  Lew  told  them  that 
a  new  danger,  and  one  worse  than  watching  Indians,  was 
before  them,  and  that  they  were  to  halt  anyone  coming  about 
the  property  and  ask  for  an  explanation. 

All  night  long  the  men  sat  around  the  camp  fire  with  their 
guns  handy  and  with  their  dogs,  who  had  been  faithful  guards 
all  the  way  across  the  plains,  by  their  sides,  but  not  a  sound 
did  they  hear,  except  the  occasional  hoot  of  an  owl  in  the 
tree  overhead  or  the  yelp  of  coyotes  on  the  mountains  near 
by.  They  put  in  much  of  their  time  examining  the  sand 
around  the  camp  fire  for  gold,  but  not  a  piece  did  they  find. 
The  next  day  they  continued  the  hunt,  but  when  nothing 
was  found,  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  all  this  fuss  had 
been  made  about  nothing. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  FIGHT  FOR  LIBERTY 

"There  is  just  one  thing  left  for  us  to  do,"  said  Brooks, 
as  he  walked  with  Harding  toward  the  office  of  the  company, 
"and  that  is  to  prosecute  this  case  with  more  vigor  than  ever. 
They  have  beat  us  to  the  claims.  We  can't  take  them  away 
from  Manning  now,  for  they  are  settled  there,  and  their  notice 
of  location  is  up." 

"Then  how  can  we  prosecute  the  case  further?"  asked  the 
manager  with  a  look  of  disgust  on  his  face.  "Smith,  Marshal 
Bass,  the  watchman  from  Gold  Run  and  all  of  these  campers 
here  are  against  you.  You  have  about  as  much  chance  as  a 
jack  rabbit*  of  winning  this." 

But  Brooks  was  bull-headed,  and  he  said :  "I  doubt  myself 
that  we  can  win  the  case,  but  we  will  persecute  them  until 
they  come  to  our  terms  and  then  we  can  get  a  settlement 
out  of  them.  Men  do  not  like  to  stay  in  jail,  and  we  have 
the  advantage  of  them  on  that  score.  I  think  we  can  make 
them  come  to  our  terms,  all  right." 

"What  evidence  have  you  against  them  that  you  can  make 
stick?" 

"The  evidence  you  have  in  your  pocket  is  sufficient.  It 
was  found  in  their  possession  on  the  works,  but  you  must 
discharge  Smith  and  get  him  away  from  here  before  we  make 
another  move.  I  see  there  is  no  chance  to  take  him  in  on 
the  deal.  Pay  him  up  for  a  month  and  send  him  away  to 
night." 

The  manager  was  disgusted  and  suggested :  "Now  look 
here,  Brooks!  I  am  convinced  that  you  have  made  a  bad 
move  and  the  best  way  to  get  out  of  it  is  to  dismiss  the  case 
and  settle  it  as  quickly  as  possible." 

95 


96 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Not  on  your  tin  type.  To  surrender  this  case  now  will 
mean  my  undoing  here  in  this  camp,"  replied  the  engineer. 

"To  go  on  with  it,  with  no  more  evidence  than  we  have, 
will  mean  my  undoing,"  replied  the  manager.  "I  would  stand 
by  you  if  I  thought  there  was  any  chance  for  you  to  win, 
but  as  it  is,  I'm  not  going  to  be  implicated  in  it.  I  shall  wash 
my  hands  of  the  whole  thing." 

Brooks  saw  that  he  meant  it,  but  still  he  tried  to  hold 
him  to  his  bargain. 

"You  are  already  implicated  in  it.  You  ordered  the  arrest 
of  these  men  and  you  can't  go  back  on  me  now." 

"You  told  me  it  was  a  sure  thing  and  the  best  mine  in 
the  district,  or  I  wouldn't  have  had  anything  to  do  with  it. 
It  now  turns  out  that  you  just  expected  to  get  in  on  a  bluff. 
The  best  thing  for  you  to  do  now  is  to  take  this  gold  and 
give  it  to  the  men,"  said  the  manager  as  he  handed  the  two 
big  pieces  of  gold  to  Brooks,  "and  I  will  withdraw  the 
charges  and  ask  for  their  release.  Otherwise,  there  is  likely 
to  be  some  charges  against  me  for  false  imprisonment,  and 
I  don't  want  to  take  any  chances  on  that." 

"Just  a  minute,  Harding.  We  have  been  friends  here  for 
three  years,  and  for  you  to  act  in  this  way  will  throw  all  the 
responsibility  on  me.  I  want  you  to  let  this  stand  until 
tomorrow,  and  we  will  think  out  some  plan  of  action  by  that 
time,"  he  begged. 

"I  don't  suppose  it  would  hurt  to  put  the  matter  over  that 
long,  but  I  don't  see  any  advantage  in  letting  it  lay  over  at 
all.  You  haven't  a  ghost  of  a  show,  and  besides  I  am  taking 
chances,"  argues  Harding. 

"Just  let  it  go  anyway,  until  I  can  see  Marshal  Bass  pri 
vately.  The  best  thing  for  you  to  do  is  to  see  the  guard, 
and  find  out  what  you  can  from  him,"  compromised  the  en 
gineer.  "He  will  be  over  this  way  soon.  I  will  see  Bass  as 
soon  as  I  can  catch  him  alone." 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  LIBERTY 97 

With  these  words,  the  engineer  left  Harding  and  went  in 
the  direction  of  the  Post  Office.  The  Manager  stood  in  the 
door  of  the  office,  watching  Brooks  as  he  departed.  He  was 
absorbed  in  deep  thought,  and  the  expression  on  his  face 
indicated  worry.  Presently  he  turned  towards  the  pit  and 
walked  in  the  direction  of  the  sluices,  to  see  how  the  night 
shift  was  progressing  with  the  cleanup.  As  he  did  so, 
Marshal  Bass  entered  the  pit  from  the  opposite  side,  and 
motioned  Mr.  Harding  to  wait  for  him. 

"Pardon  me,  Mr.  Harding,  for  bothering  you  at  this  time, 
but  I  thought  it  best  to  see  you  at  once,"  said  Bass,  as  his 
keen  eye  caught  the  Manager's,  observing  closely  to  detect 
a  look  of  guilt.  "I  have  a  matter  of  importance  to  take  up 
with  you." 

"Very  well,"  replied  Harding.  "It  is  not  best  to  talk  here, 
but  you  go  to  the  office.  I  will  take  a  look  around  here 
and  be  there  in  a  moment." 

Bass  walked  over  to  the  office  while  Harding  was  giving 
orders  about  the  work,  for  he  must  take  the  best  of  care  to 
see  that  the  gold  was  carefully  guarded  as  it  was  recovered 
from  the  sluices. 

"Well,  now,  Mr.  Bass,"  he  said,  as  he  returned  to  the 
office.  "What  did  you  want  to  see  me  about?" 

"I  don't  wish  to  do  anything  wrong,  Harding,  but  it  looks 
as  if  you  were  implicated  with  Brooks  in  this  'frame-up' 
against  the  Mannings.  We  have  a  clear  case  against  him, 
and  we  are  going  after  him,  but  it  looks  as  though  this  prop 
erty  was  good  enough  without  resorting  to  such  methods 
as  your  engineer  is  undoubtedly  guilty  of.  I  came  over  to 
get  what  facts  you  have  about  it.  What  you  say  and  do  will 
likely  determine  our  actions,  and  may  affect  your  own  stand 
ing  in  this  mining  camp.  Your  name  so  far  is  untarnished 
here,  but  I  can't  say  as  much  for  your  engineer." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  that  Brooks  is  not  a  reliable  man?" 
somewhat  angrily. 


98 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  know  it  now.  I  have  believed  it  for  some  time,  and 
now  I  am  ready  to  prove  my  contention,"  and  he  pulled  back 
his  coat,  so  that  his  badge  was  plainly  visible. 

"Aside  from  this  case,  what  evidence  have  you  against 
him  ?"  asked  Harding,  who  wanted  to  find  out  what  the  officer 
really  knew. 

"I  am  not  at  liberty  to  state  that  until  I  am  sure  of  my 
ground." 

"Then  you  don't  know  whether  the  evidence  is  true  or 
not,  but  you  just  think  so?  Is  that  what  you  mean?" 

"Not  at  all,"  firmly  replied  Bass. 

"What  do  you  mean  then?"  inquired  the  Manager. 

"If  you  insist  upon  knowing,  I  will  say  that  I  am  wait 
ing  to  see  where  you  stand.  If  you  are  out  for  a  square  deal, 
and  can  convince  me  of  it,  I  can  give  you  evidence  that  you 
will  find  very  interesting." 

"You  don't  mean  against  Brooks?"  he  inquired  cautiously. 

"Yes,  against  Brooks,  and  to  your  advantage  and  interest, 
too!" 

"Is  it  something  aside  from  this  case?"  he  asked,  with  a 
worried  look  upon  his  face,  for  Brooks  and  he  had  been  fast 
friends. 

"It  is.  But  I  shall  say  nothing  more  about  it  until  I  know 
what  your  stand  is  going  to  be  in  the  Manning  case." 

"I  have  no  stand  to  take  in  that  case.  It  is  a  scrap  be 
tween  Brooks  and  Manning,"  trying  to  evade  the  responsi 
bility. 

"Are  not  two  men  in  jail  here  by  your  order?"  demanded 
the  Marshal,  "and  yet  you  say  you  have  taken  no  stand  in 
the  matter?" 

"I  meant  in  the  dispute  over  the  claims.  These  men  were 
arrested  for  high-grading,  and  their  case  will  be  tried  upon 
its  merits.  If  they  are  not  guilty  they  will  be  liberated.  But 
so  far  as  the  claims  are  concerned,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
that." 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  LIBERTY 99 

"It  seems  to  me  that  you  have  had  evidence  enough 
brought  to  your  knowledge  to  convince  you  that  these  men 
are  not  guilty,  if  you  are  looking  for  evidence." 

"Oh,  it  is  not  hurting  them  any,  and  will  have  a  good 
effect  on  the  rest  of  the  men  on  the  cleanup.  It  may  save 
me  considerable  money,  for  you  know  I  have  been  losing  a 
great  deal  of  gold  here  at  every  cleanup  lately." 

"I  know  it,  and  that  is  what  I  am  trying  to  get  at.  I  am 
sure  that  you  are  working  along  the  wrong  lines  to  catch 
your  man." 

"Do  you  mean  to  insinuate  that  it  is  Brooks?"  demanded 
the  Manager,  angrily. 

"No,  but  I  can  catch  the  right  man,  if  you  want  him  caught 
very  badly." 

"I  will  pay  you  the  best  day's  wages  you  ever  got,  if  you 
will  get  him  with  the  goods  on,"  for  the  Manager  had  never 
suspicioned  that  it  could  possibly  be  his  engineer,  and  it  was 
evident  that  he  would  resent  any  such  accusation. 

"Then  do  I  understand  that  you  will  pay  a  reward  for 
the  capture  of  the  man  or  men  who  have  been  stealing  your 
gold?  If  so,  how  much?" 

"How  much  do  you  want?"  asked  Harding. 

"How  would  ten  per  cent  of  all  the  gold  I  capture  do?" 

"That  is  a  reasonable  basis,  and  as  fair  as  I  could  ask. 
I  will  agree  to  it,"  said  the  Manager. 

"All  right,  then,  I'll  go  to  work  upon  the  case  tomorrow, 
or  as  soon  as  I  can  get  to  it.  But  what  do  you  want  to  do 
about  the  Manning  case?" 

"Let  that  rest  until  tomorrow,  and  I  will  have  time  to 
think  it  over.  I  think  I  can  work  with  you  though  on  that 
case,  all  right.  Don't  be  hard  on  Brooks.  I  can't  get  along 
here  without  him  very  well,  and  while  he  may  be  wrong 
about  those  claims,  yet  you  know  most  anything  goes  in  a 
mining  camp.  They  beat  Brooks  to  them,  and  it  will  end 


100 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

there.  He  can't  get  them  now,"  trying  to  persuade  the  officer 
to  lay  down  on  the  case. 

"All  right,"  replied  Bass,  "I'll  see  you  tomorrow,  but  re 
member  I'm  going  to  catch  your  high-graders,  and  we  will 
make  an  example,  as  you  say,  of  the  thieves." 

"I  hope  you  do.     Good-night,  Mr.  Bass." 

"Just  a  word  before  I  go,"  said  the  Marshal.  "Don't  say 
a  word  to  anyone  that  I  am  to  help  you  catch  the  high- 
graders." 

"I  promise  you,"  was  the  reply,  for  Harding  felt  that  he 
had  accomplished  what  Brooks  could  not  hope  to  do. 

The  Marshal  walked  down  the  street,  and  the  General 
Manager  returned  to  the  pit  where  the  sluices  were  being 
cleaned.  The  work  was  progressing  slowly,  for  it  was  quite 
a  job  to  lift  the  wooden  blocks  out  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of 
sluiceway.  Some  of  the  drain  tunnels,  or  sluiceways,  are 
made  much  longer  than  that,  for  effective  work.  The  longer 
the  drain  tunnel,  the  more  gold  can  be  saved.  Sometimes 
these  tunnels  have  to  be  made  under  a  mountain  or  hill  to 
procure  the  drainage.  It  must  start  from  a  point  lower  than 
the  bottom  of  the  pit,  and  have  a  gradual  fall  of  about  ten 
feet  to  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  as  it  is  an  artificial  out 
let  for  carrying  away  the  debris. 

Thus  some  very  long  tunnels  have  been  run,  even  piercing 
the  rim  of  a  neighboring  canyon  side.  The  sluices  are  made 
in  these  long  tunnels  by  placing  planks  in  the  bottom,  and 
then  placing  wooden  blocks  upon  these  planks.  These  blocks 
are  about  twelve  inches  in  length,  and  are  set  up  on  end, 
which  makes  cracks  and  crevices  around  them  for  the  gold 
to  lodge  in.  As  the  water  rushes  over  these,  the  gold  lodges 
in  the  cracks,  while  the  sand  and  coarse  gravel  is  carried  on 
through  and  away  by  the  rapidly  running  water.  Quicksilver 
is  fed  in  the  sluice  at  the  head,  and  as  it  is  carried  down  with 
the  water,  it  picks  up  any  gold  it  comes  in  contact  with,  and 
settles  in  the  crevices  also. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  LIBERTY 101 

Below  the  portals  of  these  sluices  are  a  number  of  so- 
called  undercurrents  in  which  the  gravel  is  comminuted  by 
successive  drops,  and  the  fine  gold  caught.  The  tunnel  of 
the  North  Bloomfield  Company,  Nevada  County,  California, 
is  7,874  feet  long  and  cost  about  $500,000  to  construct,  but 
it  paid,  for  $6,500,000  in  gold  was  recovered.  As  long  as 
simply  the  upper  gravels  are  worked,  such  tunnels  are  not 
necessary,  but  as  the  principal  pay  dirt  is  near  the  bedrock, 
they  become  necessary  sooner  or  later  for  successful 
hydraulic  mining.  The  amount  of  water  forced  through  these 
sluices  is  usually  about  five  thousand  gallons  per  minute,  and 
such  a  body  of  water,  upon  such  an  incline,  carries  all  before 
it.  Therefore,  it  is  not  much  trouble  to  eat  away  great  banks 
of  gravel,  and  all  the  small  rock  and  larger  boulders  are 
thrown  back  where  the  gold  has  been  cleaned  up. 

Sometimes  there  is  a  large  amount  of  gold  caught  in  these 
sluices.  It  depends  upon  the  richness  of  the  gravel.  If  they 
are  working  top  gravel,  it  is  not  so  profitable,  as  the  coarsest 
gold  is  in  the  bottom  of  the  old  river  beds.  The  sluicing  or 
piping  is  usually  carried  on  for  about  a  month,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  sluicing  is  stopped  and  the  tunnel  washed 
out.  The  blocks  are  lifted  and  cleaned  of  all  quicksilver  and 
gold,  and  every  crack  and -crevice  is  carefully  searched  for 
gold.  Gold,  being  eleven  times  heavier  than  rock  or  sand, 
will  easily  lodge  where  the  latter  will  wash  over.  After  the 
cleanup  is  completed,  the  blocks  are  placed  back  for  another 
run. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 

All  night  long  the  sound  of  pick  and  shovel  could  be 
heard  down  the  sluiceway,  as  the  men  on  the  night  shift 
threw  back  boulders,  lifted  blocks,  and  scraped  up  gravel, 
sand  and  quicksilver,  getting  it  ready  to  be  washed  when 
daylight  came,  for  in  the  daylight  they  could  see  better  to 
save  more  of  the  gold. 

Robert  Harding  gave  evidence  of  great  uneasiness,  for 
he  did  not  stay  at  the  works  as  usual,  but  simply  made  rest 
less  trips  from  there  to  the  office,  then  to  his  room  at  the 
boarding  house,  and  from  there  back  again.  His  bed  re 
mained  untouched,  as  this  restlessness  went  on,  all  night  long. 
His  face  showed  great  worry  and  anxiety,  and  over  and  over 
again  he  said  to  himself:  "Have  I  been  fooled  in  George 
Brooks?  What  did  Bass  mean  when  he  said  he  had  valu 
able  information  for  me  and  then  refused  to  give  it.  What 
proof  had  he,  when  he  said  he  could  catch  the  man  who  has 
been  stealing  the  gold  from  the  company?"  and  kindred  ques 
tions.  Try  to  sleep?  It  was  useless,  with  such  things  passing 
through  his  mind. 

But  there  was  another  man,  also,  who  could  not  sleep. 
It  was  the  company  engineer.  The  excitement  of  the  after 
noon  and  the  defeat  of  his  every  move  caused  him  great 
uneasiness  also.  He  could  not  forget  the  calling  down  that 
Marshal  Bass  had  given  him,  and  so  he,  likewise,  was  in  and 
out  the  greater  part  of  the  night.  He  visited  the  sluices 
several  times,  but  always  took  care  not  to  meet  the  General 
Manager.  This  was  not  extraordinary,  though,  as  the  work 
was  largely  under  the  direction  of  the  managing  engineer. 

Not  far  from  the  office  stood  a  small  building  which  was 

102 


LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 103 

used  for  the  storing  of  instruments,  surveying  apparatus,  and 
records.  It  was  securely  locked  at  all  times,  and  only  the 
engineer  had  the  key  to  it.  During  the  night  the  engineer, 
in  his  nervous  wanderings,  visited  this  private  office  several 
times.  Once,  as  he  passed  the  jail,  he  shook  his  fist  at  it 
and  said  to  himself,  "I'll  make  them  smoke,  if  they  don't  come 
through."  But  all  was  quiet  there,  and  he  made  no  effort  to 
see  Manning  or  Sprouls. 

"What  has  become  of  Marshal  Bass?"  said  the  Manager 
to  himself,  very  much  puzzled.  "He  said  he  would  catch  the 
man  who  has  been  stealing  the  gold,  and  here  he  has  not 
been  on  the  job  all  night.  Possibly  he  is  away  working  on 
some  clue  he  has.  Maybe  he  thought  he  had  better  not  come 
here,  with  the  engineer,  the  guards,  and  myself  all  here 
together.  But  I  should  think  he  would  make  his  rounds  as 
usual." 

It  was  not  far  from  daylight,  and  the  night  shift  had 
raised  quite  a  section  of  the  wooden  blocks,  which  were  piled 
up  ready  for  cleaning  when  it  became  lighter. 

"Now  turn  on  a  little  water  there,"  said  the  engineer, 
who  had  just  come  up,  to  the  men  at  work.  "We  will  wash 
down  the  sand  here  and  gather  up  the  quicksilver  and  any 
coarse  gold  we  can  find." 

"There,  that  is  a  good  sized  nugget,"  put  in  the  Manager, 
who  came  up  at  that  moment  and  saw  one  of  the  men  pick 
up  a  bright  shiny  piece  of  metal. 

"Yes,  if  you  had  a  bushel  of  pieces  like  that,"  replied  the 
engineer,  "you  would  have  a  cleanup  for  your  whiskers.  Isn't 
that  peculiar?  It  is  fork  shaped,  and  almost  has  a  perfect 
face  of  a  dog  on  this  side  of  it.  I'll  bet  there  is  forty  dollars 
in  that  chunk."  Then  he  gave  it  to  the  Manager  to  look  at, 
who  in  turn  placed  it  in  a  small  bucket  with  other  pieces  that 
had  been  found. 

The  men  were  quite  busy  with  spoons  and  scrapers,  pick- 


104 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

ing  up  the  quicksilver  and  digging  the  amalgam  out  of  the 
holes  and  crevices,  as  if  they  had  not  seen  what  had  taken 
place. 

The  engineer  did  not  work  himself,  but  put  in  most  of 
his  time  watching  that  the  men  did  not  pocket  any  of  the 
gold,  and  likewise  the  guards  made  that  their  business,  as  well. 

Several  times  the  engineer  examined  the  bucket  in  which 
the  fine  gold  and  amalgam  were  placed ;  then  he  looked  into 
the  one  which  contained  the  nuggets  and  coarse  gold,  and 
examined  them  carefully.  After  setting  the  bucket  down 
beside  the  guard,  he  walked  back  to  the  men,  and  whenever 
a  new  find  was  made  he  carried  it  to  the  same  bucket,  and 
then  looked  the  bunch  over  again. 

"If  we  could  find  a  few  more  like  those  men  in  the  jail 
found  here  last  evening,"  put  in  Harding,  "we'd  be  getting 
gold  mighty  fast.  By  the  way,  what  did  you  do  with  those 
pieces  ?" 

"Do  with  them?  I  did  just  what  you  told  me  to  do  with 
them,"  said  Brooks. 

"Gave  them  back  to  the  men?"  asked  Harding,  to  make 
sure  he  had  returned  them. 

"Now  you're  talking,"  answered  Brooks,  but  he  did  not 
look  up. 

"What  did  they  say  about  it?"  asked  Harding,  for  he 
noticed  that  the  engineer  was  getting  somewhat  uneasy,  and 
wanted  to  evade  his  questions. 

"They  wanted  to  know  when  their  hearing  would  come 
up,  and  I  told  them  I  thought  it  would  come  up  to  a  limb 
of  a  tree  sometime  tomorrow,"  laughing  as  he  said  it,  and 
trying  to  turn  the  subject  away  from  the  gold. 

"That  was  kind  of  hard  on  them,  but  how  did  they  take 
it?"  asked  Harding,  rather  doubting  his  word. 

"They  said  they  expected  company,"  answered  Brooks, 
and  he  stopped  laughing  then. 


LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 105 

"What  did  they  mean?"  seeing  the  other's  uneasiness. 

"Search  me,"  answered  the  engineer,  as  he  set  the  bucket 
of  nuggets  down,  and  said  he  had  to  go  to  the  office  for  a 
minute,  but  would  soon  return.  He  disappeared  in  the  dark 
ness,  walking  towards  the  office. 

"Mr.  Harding,"  called  a  voice  from  a  pile  of  twenty-two 
inch  pipe  not  over  thirty  feet  from  the  Manager,  who  was 
standing  by  the  gold  pots. 

"Who's  calling  me?"  demanded  Harding,  as  he  turned 
around,  thinking  it  was  the  engineer  who  might  be  needing 
him. 

"It's  Marshal  Bass,"  was  the  reply. 

"Where  in  thunder  are  you?"  demanded  Harding. 

"Here  in  one  of  these  water  pipes,"  said  Bass. 

"Why  don't  you  come  out?  What  are  you  doing  there, 
anyhow  ?" 

"I  wanted  you  to  know  it  was  me  before  I  came  out,  for 
fear  the  guards  might  take  me  for  a  robber  and  shoot  me," 
replied  Bass,  as  he  crawled  out  of  the  large  pipe,  which  had 
recently  been  hauled  there  to  be*  used  in  sluicing. 

"Quick,  Mr.  Harding,  put  one  man  in  charge  of  that 
gold,  and  bring  the  other  and  come  with  me.  I  have  located 
your  man,  let's  take  him  at  once." 

"Where  is  he?"  demanded  Harding. 

"Be  quiet,  I  will  take  you  to  him.  Have  your  guns  handy, 
for  you  may  need  them." 

The  three  men  took  a  short  path  up  the  bank  of  the  pit 
which  led  in  the  direction  of  the  office  and  which  the  men 
sometimes  used  in  place  of  the  regular  road,  over  which  the 
engineer  had  gone  a  few  moments  before. 

"Now  stop  right  behind  these  two  barrels,  and  we'll  halt 
him  wrhen  he  comes  by.  He  will  be  here  in  less  than  five 
minutes.  I  have  seen  him  here  twice  tonight,  for  this  has 
been  a  busy  time  for  him,"  said  the  Marshal,  stopping  near 


106 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

the  path.  He  was  getting  a  little  nervous  himself,  for  he 
had  seen  that  his  man  wore  two  large  Colt  guns  in  his  belt. 

"If  you  think  there  is  going  to  be  any  shooting,"  said 
Harding,  excitedly,  "you  had  better  let  me  get  away  from 
here." 

But  the  officer  rebuked  him.  "We  can't  spare  you ;  besides, 
I  expect  to  take  him  so  much  by  surprise  that  he  will  forget 
to  shoot." 

"What  did  you  want  me  here  for  then?"  asked  Harding, 
as  he  felt  a  cold  chill  creep  down  his  back. 

But  the  Marshal  was  firm,  and  whispered:  "All  I  want 
you  to  do  is  to  keep  quiet,  and  when  the  guard  and  I  halt 
him,  you  throw  the  light  from  this  dark  lantern  full  in  his 
face.  Don't  be  frightened  if  you  find  he  is  an  Indian.  We'll 
take  care  of  him  if  he  attempts  to  shoot." 

"Ssh !  I  hear  him  coming  now.  He  will  pass  right  beside 
these  barrels,  because  I  was  behind  them  a  while  ago  when 
he  came  here." 

All  was  still  as  death  for  a  moment.  Then,  step  by  step 
they  heard  him  coining,  nearer  and  nearer,  until  presently 
his  figure  was  outlined  by  the  dim  moonlight,  which  was 
shaded  by  a  high  ocean  fog.  He  stopped,  he  listened,  to 
assure  himself  whether  or  not  anyone  was  near  to  observe 
his  movements,  but  everything  was  deathly  silent.  The  three 
men  could  hear  their  hearts  beating  loudly,  which  sound,  it 
seemed  to  them,  the  intruder  would  also  hear.  He  walked 
back  a  little  and  approached  the  high  bank  of  the  pit,  to 
again  see  that  no  one  was  following  him. 

Again  he  approached  the  barrels,  this  time  near  enough 
for  his  figure  to  be  plainly  seen.  The  Manager  grew  very 
uneasy,  and  made  a  movement  as  though  to  arise. 

"Keep'  still,"  whispered  the  Marshal,  pulling  him  down. 
"If  he  sees  you  he  will  shoot  you  sure." 

The  man  walked  straight  towards  the  barrels,  then  turning 


LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 107 

suddenly,  went  to  the  private  office  of  the  engineer,  and,  put 
ting  a  key  in  the  door,  unlocked  it,  and  was  about  to  enter. 

"Halt !  Hands  up,  or  I'll  shoot  you  in.  your  tracks !"  cried 
the  Marshal.  The  man  turned  quickly,  and  found  two  guns 
pointed  at  his  head,  while  the  Manager  flashed  the  dark 
lantern  full  in  his  face. 

"It's  a  mistake,"  then  cried  Harding.  "This  is  only  the 
engineer." 

"It's  no  mistake,  Mr.  Harding.  We've  got  the  right  man," 
retorted  Bass,  who  knew  Harding  would  try  to  defend  Brooks. 
He  was  very  proud  of  his  day's  work.  "Keep  your  mitts 
up  there,"  he  shouted,  as  the  engineer  began  to  lower  his 
hands  at  Mr.  Harding's  words.  He  shoved  the  pistol  under 
his  nose  to  show  that  he  meant  business. 

"Take  those  guns  off  him,  guard,"  ordered  the  Marshal. 
Then  starting  towards  Brooks,  he  said,  "I  heard  you  say 
'search  me'  a  little  while  ago.  We'll  now  proceed  to  do  so. 
Bring  that  light  a  little  closer,  Harding.  Now,  guard,  take 
that  gold  out  of  his  right  hand  coat  pocket,  and  I'm  certain 
you  will  find  that  peculiar  forked  shaped  piece  with  a  dog 
face  on  one  side,"  he  said,  confidently. 

Turning  to  the  Manager,  he  continued,  "Come  up  closer, 
Harding,  and  satisfy  yourself  that  he  has  your  gold,  and  that 
it  is  actually  coming  out  of  your  engineer's  pocket." 

Harding  hesitated  and  Brooks  took  advantage  of  it. 

"You  are  mistaken,  gentlemen.  I  am  simply  attending  to 
my  business  as  engineer  of  this  company,"  he  said,  trying 
to  get  the  sympathy  of  Harding. 

"Never  mind,"  replied  the  Marshal,  "we'll  soon  satisfy 
ourselves  as  to  that." 

"This  is  an  outrage!  I  will  not  submit  to  any  such  in 
dignity  !  You  shall  not  search  me  when  I  am  handling  the 
company's  business,  and  caring  for  its  gold,"  shouted  Brooks, 
seeing  the  position  he  would  be  placed  in  if  they  found  the 
gold  upon  him. 


108 WINNING  A   FORTUNE 

"I'm  an  officer  of  the  law,  sir.  We'll  see  about  that.  Pro 
ceed  with  the  search !"  commanded  the  Marshal. 

So  the  guard,  in  full  view  of  the  Manager,  put  his  hand 
in  the  engineer's  pocket  and  the  first  piece  he  found  was  the 
forked  shaped  one,  which  Harding  recognized  as  soon  as 
he  saw  it.  Several  other  pieces,  comprising  more  .than  one 
hundred  dollars,  were  found  upon  his  person,  some  of  them 
yet  being  coated  with  quicksilver  and  still  wet,  showing  that 
they  had  just  come  from  the  sluices. 

The  Marshal  took  the  gold  and  turned  to  Harding :  "Here 
is  positive  proof  that  this  gold  came  from  the  sluices  tonight ; 
besides,  I  saw  him  put  them  in  his  pocket  myself.  Several 
times  he  put  gold  out  of  the  pots  into  his  pocket,  when  you 
were  not  looking,  for  I  was  within  thirty  feet  of  him.  He 
has  made  three  trips  to  this  building  since  I  have  been  on 
duty  tonight.  I  could  have  taken  him  any  trip,  but  I  wanted 
you  with  me,  so  that  I  could  have  two  witnesses.  I  saw 
him  put  that  forked  piece  in  his  pocket,  which  I  knew  every 
man  on  the  job  looked  at,  and  I  knew  that  we  would  have 
no  trouble  in  identifying  it,  so  I  said  to  myself:  'Now  is 
the  time  to  act.'  Here,  Mr.  Harding,  is  the  man  who  has 
been  high-grading  all  these  months.  You  may  not  believe  it, 
but  I  will  prove  it  to  you.  I  have  been  suspicious  of  him 
ever  since  you  complained  of  some  one  stealing  your  gold." 

He  hesitated,  giving  the  General  Manager  a  chance  to 
speak,  but  he  remained  silent.  Bass  was  greatly  vexed  with 
him,  yet  it  was  just  what  he  expected,  for  he  believed  that 
Harding  was  working  with  Brooks.  At  last,  to  pin  the  Man 
ager  down,  he  asked : 

"Now  are  you  satisfied  that  this  is  your  gold?" 

"I  must  admit  that  it  looks  that  way,"  acknowledged  Hard 
ing,  slowly. 

"Certainly  it  is  your  gold,  Mr.  Harding,"  put  in  the  en 
gineer.  "I  am  taking  care  of  it  for  you  as  your  trusted  en- 


LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 109 

gineer.  I  was  afraid  some  one  would  steal  those  large  pieces 
and  decided  to  bring  them  over  here  to  safeguard  them," 
he  explained  cunningly. 

As  nearly  all  criminals  cry  "frame-up"  when  they  are 
caught,  which  does  not  go  with  an  officer,  Marshal  Bass  asked : 

"Then  why  did  you  slip  this  gold  out  without  the  knowl 
edge  of  the  Manager  or  any  of  the  guards?  Didn't  you 
realize  that  if  it  was  missed,  the  guards  or  men  would  be 
accused  of  stealing  it?" 

"It  was  unnecessary  to  say  a  word  about  it,"  replied 
Brooks,  hedging.  "I  was  just  attending  to  my  duties." 

"Your  duties  ?  Great  Heavens !"  put  in  the  guard,  who 
was  convinced  of  his  guilt.  "Your  duties  are  second  when 
the  Manager  and  his  guards  are  on  the  job  at  these  cleanups." 

"Have  you  any  more  of  it  in  this  building?"  asked  Bass, 
knowing  that  he  had. 

"No,  sir,"  growled  Brooks. 

"Mr.  Harding,  please  take  note  of  his  answer,"  said  Bass, 
and  then,  turning  to  Brooks,  continued:  "We'll  go  in  and 
take  a  look,  anyway.  I  saw  you  come  up  here  three  times 
tonight,  and  it  might  be  that  you  were  on  the  same  kind  of 
business  for  the  company." 

"Did  you  miss  any  gold  before  this  trip,  Mr.  Harding?" 
he  asked  the  Manager. 

"No,  I  didn't,"  replied  Harding,  who  seemed  to  be  trying 
to  shield  the  engineer. 

"I  am  satisfied  that  he  has  been  taking  it,  not  only  this 
night,  but  for  many  others.  I've  watched  him  many  times 
from  behind  these  barrels.  Come  on  in,  let's  look  around. 
But  first,  guard,  snap  those  handcuffs  on  his  wrists.  Such 
fellows  as  he  can't  be  trusted.  There  now,"  as  the  guard 
did  as  he  was  told.  The  officer  commanded  Brooks,  "Sit 
down  there  on  that  bench  until  we  have  finished  here." 

The  engineer  had   fought  against  being  handcuffed,  but 


110 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

the  two  men  put  them  on  just  the  same.  They  then  ex 
amined  every  drawer,  box,  nook  and  corner,  but  not  a  trace 
of  gold  was  found. 

"I  told  you  there  was  nothing  here,"  said  Brooks,  sar 
castically,  feeling  sure  that  he  was  going  to  be  vindicated. 

The  Marshal  was  greatly  puzzled,  but  just  as  the  search 
was  about  to  be  abandoned,  he  noticed  a  short  step  ladder 
leaning  against  the  wall.  Upon  examination,  he  found  a  wet 
foot  track  upon  it.  Turning  his  dark  lantern  toward  the 
ceiling,  he  saw  that  a  board  had  been  loosened,  for  it  did  not 
quite  fit  into  its  proper  place.  This  gave  the  officer  some 
hope,  and  he  asked : 

"What  have  you  got  up  there?" 

The  engineer  turned  pale,  and  began  to  break  out  in  a 
cold  sweat,  but  finally  he  managed  to  say,  "Nothing,"  sullenly, 
as  the  Marshal  turned  the  lantern  full  on  him.  A  deep 
frown  told  too  well  that  the  officer  was  on  the  right  track 
at  last. 

Mr.  Bass,  taking  the  step  ladder,  placed  it  against  the 
drafting  table,  climbed  up  and  removed  the  loose  board ; 
striking  a  match  as  he  poked  his  head  through  the  opening, 
his  eyes  fell  on  a  black  powder  can,  sitting  near  him.  Reach 
ing  for  the  can,  he  tried  to  pull  it  toward  him,  but  failed, 
and,  looking  down  at  Mr.  Harding,  said: 

"Great  Heavens !  He  has  a  whole  powder  can  full  of  it 
up  here !" 

"Do  you  mean  it?"  asked  Harding,  nervously,  hoping  it 
was  not  true. 

"Sure!  It's  so  heavy  I  can't  lift  it.  Help  me  down  with 
it." 

Harding  left  the  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  guard  and, 
climbing  up  on  the  table,  helped  Bass  lift  the  can  down.  To 
their  utter  surprise,  it  was  filled  with  the  choicest  specimens 
of  gold,  and  almost  the  first  piece  taken  out  when  the  cover 


LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 111 

was  lifted,  was  the  large  chunk  that  had  been  taken  from 
Henry  Manning  when  he  was  arrested,  and  which  Harding 
had  given  to  Brooks  with  instructions  to  return  it  to  them, 
and  which  he  had  reported  he  had  done.  It  was  easily  recog 
nized  because  of  its  peculiar  shape,  and  from  the  fact  that 
it  contained  a  mixture  of  quartz  in  it. 

"Are  you  satisfied  now,  Mr.  Harding?"  asked  Marshal 
Bass,  much  pleased  with  his  find.  "I  told  you  last  evenmg 
that  I  could  catch  the  fellow  who  was  stealing  your  gold, 
but  you  didn't  think  I  would  get  such  a  haul  as  this,  when 
you  promised  me  the  reward,  did  you?" 

"I  am  satisfied,  I'm  sorry  to  say,"  replied  Harding,  search 
ing  his  mind  for  a  pretext  to  excuse  Brooks'  act. 

"Well,  I  came  to  tell  you  about  this  last  night,  but  you 
would  not  listen,  and  you  stood  up  for  this  man  in  such  an 
emphatic  way  that  I  knew  it  would  take  more  than  hearsay, 
or  even  finding  the  gold  in  his  office  to  convince  you.  So 
I  chose  this  method,  of  having  you  with  me,  so  that  the  guilty 
man  might  be  taken  in  the  very  act.  It  is  well  that  you  have 
taken  the  stand  you  have  here  just  now,  for  to  defend  him 
in  the  face  of  all  this  evidence  would  cause  the  company 
officials  to  believe  you  are  implicated  with  him  in  it.  Now, 
what  shall  we  do  with  him?"  desiring  to  see  what  stand  the 
Manager  would  take. 

"Take  him  to  the  lock-up,  and  release  the  two  men  he 
accused,"  replied  Harding.  "The  whole  case  is  now  clear  to 
me.  I  see  that  he  was  trying  to  cover  up  his  deviltry  by  per 
secuting  others."  He  saw  that  his  only  chance  to  clear  him 
self  was  to  throw  Brooks  down. 

"I  will  lock  him  up  with  pleasure,  but  as  far  as  the  release 
of  Manning  and  Sprouls  is  concerned,  that  is  another  ques 
tion.  This  man  Brooks  has  signed  a  complaint  against  them 
before  the  justice,  demanding  that  they  be  held  without  bail. 
The  justice  has  so  ordered,  and  that  will  have  to  go  over 


112 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

until  their  case  is  called.  Now,  I  demand  that  someone  else 
be  called  in  to  witness  the  recovery  of  this  stolen  gold,  and 
that  the  can  be  weighed,  sealed,  and  held  at  the  bank  as 
evidence  against  this  man,"  the  Marshal  continued.  "Then 
I  will  take  a  tenth  of  it  as  my  reward  for  his  capture,  as  you 
promised  me." 

All  of  which  was  complied  with.  The  keys  were  taken 
from  the  engineer  and  the  office  locked,  then  the  Marshal 
led  the  prisoner  to  the  jail,  just  as  day  was  breaking. 

"Welcome,  comrade !  We  have  been  looking  for  you,  but 
you  have  been  a  long  time  in  coming,"  said  Manning  to 
Brooks,  as  the  jailer  admitted  the  engineer  to  the  big  one- 
room  jail.  "How  about  Raman's  scaffold  now?"  he  said 
in  derision. 

"How  did  you  know  anything  about  me?"  demanded  the 
engineer,  sarcastically. 

"We  didn't,  but  any  man  as  crooked  as  you  are  could  not 
help  but  land  here  sooner  or  later,"  replied  Manning,  with 
a  laugh. 

"I  suppose  that  is  why  you  are  here,"  retorted  Brooks. 

"That's  all  right.  We  are  here,  and  you  know  why.  We 
don't  know  what  you're  here  for,  but  from  our  short  acquaint 
ance  with  you,  we  expected  you.  By  the  way,  Brooks,  we 
want  to  thank  you  for  the  information  you  gave  us  about 
this  great  gold  field  and  the  mining  here,  but  we  are  sorry 
you  didn't  tell  us  about  high-grading,  so  we  could  have  been 
on  the  lookout  and  kept  out  of  here.  You  have  given  us 
quite  a  lesson  about  that,  though,"  he  laughed. 

"Then  you  admit  your  guilt?"  said  the  new  prisoner,  and 
the  other  replied : 

"Had  we  known  of  such  trickery,  we  would  never  have 
taken  the  gold  with  us  when  we  went  on  the  job,  but  we 
thought  you  were  an  honorable  man.  We  were  fooled  to  the 
extent  of  spending  a  night  in  jail,  but  what  did  you  do  with 


LOOKING  FOR  BIG  GAME 113 

our  gold  anyway?  Harding  told  you  to  return  it  to 
us." 

"You  mean  the  gold  that  you  stole  from  the  company?" 
asked  Brooks. 

"Never  mind,  Manning,"  put  in  Marshal  Bass,  who  was 
standing  at  the  door,  and  who  had  been  an  amused  listener 
to  this  conversation.  "Your  gold  is  safe.  I  will  keep  it  for 
you  and  see  that  you  get  it  all  right." 

There  was  no  small  stir  in  Dutch  Flat  that  morning 
when  it  was  learned  that  George  Brooks  had  been  arrested 
for  stealing  gold,  or  high-grading,  from  the  company,  of 
which  he  was  the  managing  engineer.  He  had  been  a  con 
spicuous  figure  about  the  works  for  months,  and  little  did 
any  one  suspect  him  of  such  an  act,  aside  from  the  Marshal. 
But  it  could  not  be  denied,  when  forty-five  thousand  dollars 
in  gold  was  found  in  his  possession,  which  represented  his 
pilferings  from  the  very  day  he  came  to  take  possession  of 
the  property  for  the  company,  to  the  night  of  his  arrest.  The 
talk  of  the  town  was  all  turned  from  the  Manning  arrest  to 
that  of  the  engineer,  and  the  two  innocent  men  already  in 
jail  were  forgotten. 

The  day  was  wearing  away,  when  a  stranger  came  quickly 
up  the  street  and  inquired  for  Marshal  Bass. 


CHAPTER  IX 
DOINGS  AT  THE  NEW  CAMP 

That  stranger  was  Jack  Winters,  who  had  returned  from 
his  trip  of  inspection  among  the  various  mining  camps  of  the 
district.  He  was  a  short,  stockily  built  man,  with  grey  eyes, 
and  with  the  major  part  of  his  hair  missing  from  early  bald 
ness.  He  was  never  excited,  always  took  things  coolly,  and 
looked  for  the  bright  side.  He  did  not  talk  much  about  him 
self,  what  he  had  done  or  could  do,  but  before  passing  upon 
any  question,  he  always  went  into  the  merits  of  it,  and  his 
work  spoke  for  itself. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  old  camp  ground,  he  found  that 
his  friends  were  missing.  To  find  a  clue  to  their  whereabouts, 
he  sought  out  the  Town  Marshal,  for  he  knew  nothing  of 
what  had  taken  place  during  his  absence.  In  fact,  the 
Marshal  did  not  know  much  about  Winters,  as  he  had  bare 
ly  met  him  upon  the  evening  of  their  arrival,  but  Mr.  Winters 
remembered  the  Marshal  well  as  the  man  who  had  welcomed 
them  to  the  camp,  and  gave  them  good  advice  as  to  law  and 
order.  He  also  knew  Bass  was  a  friend  of  the  Mannings  back 
in  Missouri. 

"Hold  on  there  a  minute!"  cried  the  stranger  to  the 
Marshal,  as  he  was  passing  up  the  street  on  the  opposite  side. 

"Who  in  thunder  are  you?"  demanded  the  Marshal,  and 
he  looked  hard  at  the  stranger  for  some  feature  that  his  keen 
eye  might  recognize. 

"Well!  Have  you  forgotten  me  already?"  he  laughingly 
said. 

"It  seems  as  though  I  have.  What  is  your  name  and 
what  do  you  want?" 

"Winters  is  my  name.  I  came  with  Captain  Manning 

114 


DOINGS  AT  THE  NEW  CAMP 115 

across  the  plains.  I  have  been  away  for  a  few  days,  and 
I  see  they  have  moved  the  camp  in  my  absence.  I  was  won 
dering  if  you  could  tell  me  where  they  had  gone?" 

The  officer  smiled  and  said,  "Well,  you  haven't  far  to  go 
to  see  Manning,  if  he's  the  man  you're  looking  for.  He's 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  you  right  now." 

Winters  looked  around  in  surprise,  and  the  Marshal 
laughed,  for  he  saw  that  the  stranger  did  not  know  of  the 
arrest. 

"Oh,  Manning  has  gotten  rather  high-toned  since  he  came 
out  here  among  rich  people,  and  he  is  putting  up  at  one  of  our 
'up  town  hotels,'  "  said  the  Marshal,  with  a  grin  on  his  face. 

"Yes?  Made  a  stake  already,  I  suppose.  Could  I  see 
him?"  inquired  Winters. 

"Have  you  got  a  pass?"  asked  the  other  jokingly. 

"Perhaps  I  could  get  you  to  write  me  one,"  replied  Win 
ters,  who  did  not  see  the  joke,  as  they  walked  down  the 
street  towards  the  jail. 

"Step  in  here  a  minute  with  me  and  then  I  will  take  you 
to  him,"  said  Bass,  as  they  came  to  the  jail.  To  his  utter  sur 
prise,  the  first  thing  Winters  saw  as  he  stepped  inside,  was 
Manning  behind  the  bars. 

"What  in  the  name  of  common  sense  are  you  doing  here?" 
asked  the  lawyer  as  he  stood  looking  at  Manning.  Then 
seeing  Sprouls  near  him,  "Are  you  all  in  there?"  removing 
his  hat  and  scratching  his  bald  head. 

"Oh,  I  got  rich  since  you  left,  and  they  put  me  in  jail 
for  it,"  smiled  the  prisoner. 

"Stop  your  joking  and  tell  me  all  about  it.  What  is  the 
trouble?" 

"I  have  told  you  the  truth,"  replied  Manning,  and  they  all 
smiled  with  him. 

"There  is  something  else  back  of  it  more  than  that,"  de 
manded  the  attorney.  "I  know  law  too  well  for  that." 


116 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"It  is  a  long  story,  but  that's  what  is  back  of  it  all,"  said 
the  Captain,  pointing  to  the  half-reclining  figure  of  Brooks. 
"Do  you  think  you  can  get  us  out  of  here?"  He  was  very 
glad  to  see  the  lawyer  back  again. 

"I  can't  tell,  until  I  know  the  charges,"  said  the  lawyer, 
"but  as  you  take  it  so  good  naturedly,  I  guess  it  can't  be 
serious.  You  haven't  taken  any  of  these  natives  for  Indians 
and  let  off  your  guns,  have  you?" 

"Not  exactly,  but  I  rather  wish  I  had,"  replied  Manning, 
as  he  turned  and  gave  Brooks  a  frown,  the  latter  having 
moved  to  the  other  side  of  the  room.  However,  he  was  still 
taking  in  all  that  was  being  said.  "But  I'm  inclined  to  think 
the  job  will  soon  be  completed  without  my  taking  a  hand 
in  it  at  all,  or  at  least  things  are  working  that  way  now." 
Brooks  turned  his  head  the  other  way,  as  if  he  was  not 
listening. 

The  lawyer  then  turned  to  the  officer,  and  asked,  "Mr. 
Bass,  what  is  the  charge  against  these  men?" 

"Just  what  Manning  has  told  you,"  was  his  reply,  enjoy 
ing  the  fun. 

"Yes,  but  I  don't  see  the  joke.  You  know  I  am  from 
Missouri,"  said  the  other. 

"Sprouls  don't  think  it's  any  joke,  for  he  has  been  here 
twenty-four  hours  now  and  the  new  has  worn  off  to  him," 
said  Bass  with  a  smile. 

"Nor  I,  either,"  replied  the  lawyer.  "If  you  will  give  me 
a  brief  outline  of  the  case,  Captain,  I  will  see  what  legal 
steps  can  be  taken  to  secure  your  release." 

Stepping  up  to  the  bars,  Winters  listened  closely  while 
Manning  outlined  the  case  to  him  as  briefly  as  possible.  He 
told  how  the  children  had  found  the  gold,  and  how  the  en 
gineer  had  tried  to  take  the  claims  away  from  him ;  how, 
when  he  had  failed  in  that,  he  had  accused  the  men,  of  high- 
grading  and  had  had  them  arrested.  Winters  listened  at 
tentively  until  he  had  finished,  then  exclaimed  angrily: 


DOINGS  AT  THE  NEW  CAMP 117 

"I'll  get  that  engineer  myself  for  that.  He  is  worse  than 
an  Indian." 

"Ssh!  He  is  already  'got.'  He  got  himself;"  the  prisoner 
smiled.  "That's  the  fellow  leaning  against  the  wall  over  there. 
Just  remember  while  you  are  getting  us  out,  don't  release 
him,  too!" 

"Don't  worry,"  was  the  reply,  as  the  lawyer  and  Marshal 
Bass  walked  quickly  out  and  across  the  street  to  the  office  of 
the  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  at  once  got  out  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  on  the  grounds  of  insufficient  evidence,  and  by  putting 
up  a  cash  bond  for  the  appearance  of  the  men  at  the  trial, 
he  soon  had  them  at  liberty  again. 

As  they  walked  out  of  the  jail  Brooks  gave  them  a  look 
of  scorn,  never  to  be  forgotten.  "Old  Missouri,"  looking  full 
into  the  face  of  the  lawyer,  said :  "Mr.  Winters,  I  know  we 
sometimes  differed  in  our  opinions,  but  I  always  took  you 
to  be  a  good  and  useful  man,  and  now  I  am  sure  of  it.  I 
never  was  quite  so  glad  to  see  a  man  in  me  life,  as  I  was 
to  see  you  today." 

"Don't  mention  it,"  laughed  the  lawyer.  "You  know  we 
decided  to  stick  by  each  other  and  fight  for  each  other  when 
we  left  Kansas  City,  and  I  was  only  keeping  my  pledge  to 
you.  This  caused  me  no  trouble.  Come  on,  now,  darkness 
will  soon  be  on.  Where  are  'the  teams  and  families  ?" 

"I  don't  know,  but  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Gold 
Run,"  said  "Old  Missouri,"  holding  his  broad  rimmed  hat  in 
his  hands.  "They  have  moved  since  we  went  to  boarding 
up  town." 

"Haven't  you  even  seen  the  new  claims,  or  had  anything 
to  do  with  locating  them?"  asked  the  attorney  in  surprise. 

"Nothing  at  all.  We  don't  even  know  where  they  are," 
was  the  surprising  reply. 

"Well,  who  does?"  was  the  demand  of  the  puzzled  attorney. 

"Marshal  Bass  helped  in  staking  them,"  replied  Manning, 


118 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

much  pleased  to  breathe  the  free  air  again.  "He  can  direct 
us  to  them,  then  we  must  lose  no  time  in  getting  there  before 
it  gets  dark.  It  would  be  unsafe  for  us  to  go  after  sunset, 
as  they  have  pickets  out  in  every  direction." 

Winters  stared  at  him  to  see  if  he  really  meant  it,  and  then 
said,  "You  must  have  some  gold  mine  to  keep  a  guard  out 
like  that,"  rather  doubting  the  claims  made  for  it. 

"Gold  mine!"  exclaimed  "Missouri,"  excitedly  pulling  his 
beard.  "Why,  it's  the  next  thing  to  the  old  Brookshire  mine 
in  Missouri.  They  scoop  it  up  by  the  shovel  full !" 

The  other  two  men  laughed  heartily  at  Sprouls'  expense. 

Following  the  directions  given  by  the  Town  Marshal,  they 
were  soon  on  their  way  to  the  new  camp.  They  reached  it 
just  as  the  sun  sank  to  rest  behind  the  western  hills.  The  joy 
and  rejoicing  over  the  homecoming  of  the  three  men  could 
not  be  described  in  words.  It  must  be  experienced  to  be 
appreciated.  The  past  twenty-four  hours  had  been  more 
wearisome  and  nerve  racking  to  Mrs.  Manning  and  the  chil 
dren  than  all  their  trouble  with  the  Indians,  in  their  long  trip 
across  the  plains.  During  that  time,  she  had  the  menfolk 
to  look  up  to  and  relieve  her  of  the  responsibility,  but  in 
this  case  she  not  only  felt  anxiety  for  the  men  in  jail,  but  for 
the  safety  of  the  family  and  the  gold  mine  as  well.  The 
strain  had  been  so  great  that  as  soon  as  she  saw  the  men, 
and  knew  they  were  safely  returned,  her  nerves  relaxed  and 
she  fell  in  a  heap  to  the  ground. 

The  excitement  about  the  gold  was  a  matter  of  minor 
importance  until  Mrs.  Manning  was  revived,  and  then  it 
was  too  late  for  any  gold  mining  that  night.  Events  and 
experiences  were  all  talked  over,  and  then  the  company  re 
tired  to  their  tents  for  the  night. 

No  one  in  camp  knew  where  the  gold  was  found  except 
Mrs.  Manning  and  the  children,  for  it  had  been  carefully 
covered  up  and  concealed.  The  guards  did  not  even  know 


DOINGS  AT  THE  NEW  CAMP 119 

where  it  was  to  be  found,  but  during  the  past  twenty-four 
hours  they  had  dug  holes  everywhere  in  the  sand  and  gravel 
round  about,  Lew  taking  part  with  them,  though  he  was 
aware  of  where  the  gold  had  been  found.  They  discovered 
no  gold  to  speak  of,  and  the  guards  and  visitors  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  a  false  alarm;  that  there  was 
no  gold  there  to  amount  to  anything,  and  consequently  the 
excitement  had  all  died  down.  Nothing  of  interest  had  been 
found,  although  the  ground  had  all  been  staked  out  in  mining 
claims  for  thousands  of  feet  in  every  direction,  even  to  the 
sides  of  the  hills. 

The  night  was  passed  in  quietness,  only  one  man  remain 
ing  on  guard,  for  the  others  could  be  aroused  in  a  moment's 
time  if  needed.  Daylight  the  next  morning  found  them  all 
up  and  ready  for  the  excitement  of  mining  the  precious  metal. 

The  place  where  the  newly  discovered  gold  was  located 
was  in  a  ravine,  between  two  mountains  of  lava  formation. 
The  lava  had  flowed  across  this  ancient  river  bed  in  two 
parallel  streams,  leaving  the  ravine  between  them.  Naturally 
the  water  would  form  a  channel  down  this  ravine,  cutting 
away  the  ashes,  lava,  and  the  original  rock  formations.  As 
the  years  passed,  the  rock  had  decomposed  and  been  cut  away, 
while  the  sand  lodged  in  any  available  place.  The  only  spot 
in  this  ravine  where  gold  in  any  quantities  could  be  found 
was  in  this  ancient  river  bed,  which  had,  by  internal  dis 
turbances,  been  raised  out  of  its  original  elevation  and  cov 
ered  up  with  the  lava  flow.  But  the  channel  crossed  the 
ravine,  and  the  gold  that  had  lodged  in  the  ancient  river 
bed  would  remain  there  until  the  rock  below  was  sufficiently 
cut  away  to  allow  the  rapidly  running  water  to  carry  it  on 
down  the  mountain  side.  This  had  not  altogether  been  done. 
There  was  a  basin,  or  pocket,  in  the  old  channel,  which  was 
filled  up  with  gold  bearing  gravel,  and  in  it  was  this  big 
tree,  which,  with  its  hundreds  of  roots  and  mighty  trunk, 


120 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

had  been  growing  there  for  ages.  In  and  around  the  roots 
of  this  tree,  much  loose  gold  had  lodged.  The  roots  had 
broken  the  force  of  the  water  and  allowed  the  heavy  gold  to 
remain  where  it  had  lodged,  while  further  on  it  had  been 
carried  to  the  bottom  of  the  ravine. 

No  one  had  thought  of  looking  under  this  tree  for  gold. 
The  children  had  found  it  by  accident,  as  they  were  playing 
in  the  sand  near  it.  The  wash  had  been  prospected  time 
and  again,  but  nothing  of  value  had  ever  been  found  there. 
Therefore,  the  men  on  guard  were  unable  to  believe  there 
was  anything  there,  for  they  had  not  been  shown  where  the 
gold  had  been  found.  They  were  paid  off  and  allowed  to 
return  to  their  own  wagons  at  the  camp  near  Dutch  Flat, 
fully  believing  that  it  was  a  worthless  claim,  and  so  circulated 
this  report  around  Dutch  Flat. 

When  they  were  alone,  Henry  Manning  and  his  family, 
John  Sprouls  and  Jack  Winters,  began  to  excavate  the  mighty 
mountain  pine.  Hands  full  of  gold  were  found  under  the 
boulders  that  were  lodged  among  the  roots.  Little  by  little 
they  gathered  it  up,  paying  no  attention  to  the  fine  gold,  but 
only  the  nuggets,  and  that  large  enough  to  be  seen  and  picked 
up.  All  day  long  they  worked  steadily  at  an  industry  which 
was  entirely  new  to  them,  but  which  was  a  paying  one.  Had 
it  held  out  long  enough  they  would  all  have  been  rich, 
for  it  counted  into  ounces  mighty  fast  as  long  as  it  lasted. 
They  put  it  into  small  canvas  bags,  made  from  a  part  of  the 
wagon  covering  by  Mrs.  Manning's  skillful  fingers.  These 
sacks  each  held  several  ounces  of  gold,  and  as  they  were  filled, 
Henry  Manning  carefully  hid  them  away  in  his  wagon. 

Little  by  little  the  sand  was  dug  out,  until  every  particle 
available  was  excavated  and  until  the  bedrock  was  reached. 
Most  of  the  crevices  in  the  rocks  were  rich  with  gold,  but 
as  the  roots  of  the  tree  had  grown  in  them  they  could  not 
be  examined  until  the  tree  should  be  felled.  Sack  after  sack 


DOINGS  AT  THE  NEW  CAMP 121 

of  gold  was  hidden  away  in  the  wagon,  and  none  of  them 
knew  what  the  amount  saved  was  worth.  It  was  a  good  day's 
work,  and  mining  in  that  particular  place  was  about  over. 
Some  fine  specimens  and  large  nuggets  were  recovered,  but 
the  fine  gold  remaining  in  the  sand  was  shoveled  back  around 
the  tree  and  covered  with  fresh  gravel.  Then  they  were  all 
pledged  to  secrecy. 

"Mum's  the  word,"  said  the  Captain.  Then  meditating  a 
moment,  he  commanded: 

"Harness  the  horses  and  put  them  to  the  wagons  quickly," 
he  said  to  the  men  as  soon  as  the  work  was  completed.  "We 
must  play  our  part  well  and  get  out  of  here." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  demanded  Sprouls,  puffing 
hard  on  his  old  corn  cob  pipe. 

"We  are  going  back  to  the  camp  at  Dutch  Flat.  This  is 
the  night  that  Winters  is  to  meet  all  of  the  men  who  came 
across  the  plains  with  us.  He  is  to  bring  us  a  report  of  his 
trip  among  the  camps,  and  offer  us  some  plan  of  operation." 

"But  we  don't  need  it,"  replied  "Missouri,"  defiantly.  "We 
are  in  good  enough  shape  here,  and  why  not  let  well  enough 
alone?" 

"That  would  be  our  undoing,"  returned  Manning  sharply. 
"We  must  play  our  part  so  that  the  rest  will  believe  there 
is  nothing  here,  and  that  we  had  all  our  trouble  for 
nothing,  then  we  will  not  be  molested.  If  it  gets  out  that 
we  have  made  a  good  haul,  we  are  liable  to  be  murdered  for 
our  gold.  If  we  stay  here,  they  might  think  we  had  some 
thing  good  after  all,  and  overpower  us.  So  we'll  go  back 
to  the  old  camp  and  report  that  there's  nothing  down  here. 
There  isn't,  you  see.  We  are  taking  it  all  away,  and  by  our 
return  to  the  old  camp,  they  will  believe  us." 

"You  don't  need  a  lawyer,  Henry,"  put  in  Winters.  "That 
is  better  than  I  had  planned  myself.  I  fully  agree  with  you 
and  think  we  had  better  be  off." 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  GREAT  NEW  PLAN 

Just  as  the  sun  was  setting  in  the  Golden  West,  the  three 
wagons  pulled  into  the  old  camp  ground  at  Dutch  Flat. 
Marshal  Bass,  who  was  making  his  rounds,  was  the  first  man 
to  meet  them.  He  had  expected  some  word  from  the  new 
camp  all  day,  but  none  had  come.  The  guards  had  circulated 
the  report  adverse  to  the  merits  of  the  claim,  and  no  one  had 
taken  interest  enough  in  it,  therefore,  to  make  the  trip  down 
there. 

"Upon  my  word,  what  does  this  mean?  Is  the  new  camp 
a  frost?"  spoke  up  the  Marshal  in  dismay. 

"That's  what  it  is,"  replied  the  lawyer.  "We're  all  dis 
appointed  in  it,"  giving  the  officer  a  wink  so  that  the  others 
would  not  understand. 

"You  don't  tell  me  that  there  was  nothing  there?"  he 
asked  understandingly. 

"Oh,  no,  it  was  just  a  pocket,  and  a  small  one  at  that," 
put  in  Manning,  knowing  that  Bass  had  seen  the  gold.  "We 
got  all  there  was  there,  and  it  did  not  take  very  long,  either." 

"I  see.  Well,  it  wouldn't  take  very  long  to  satisfy  you 
or  me,  either,  if  you  picked  it  up  all  day  as  the  children  did 
the  other  evening  when  we  were  staking  out  the  claims," 
said  the  Marshal,  as  he  eyed  the  newcomers  to  see  if  they 
were  sincere  in  their  statements. 

"Mum's  the  word  there,  Mr.  Bass,"  said  Winters.  "The 
people  think  there  was  nothing  there,  and  we  want  them  to 
continue  to  think  so.  That  is  what  brought  us  here  tonight, 
so  that  they  would  think  we  had  given  it  up." 

"I  get  ye,"  quietly  returned  Bass.  "I  won't  say  a  word ; 
besides,  the  report  is  all  over  the  camp  that  the  claim  was 

122 


THE  GREAT   NEW  PLAN 183 

a  frost.  Let  me  give  you  some  advice,"  he  continued.  "Some 
funny  things  happen  in  this  western  country,  where  officers 
are  few  and  rogues  are  plentiful,  and  I  have  taken  an  interest 
in  you  people,  as  you  came  from  the  same  place  in  old 
Missouri  that  I  did.  I  want  to  tell  you  that  it  would  not 
be  good  for  the  safety  of  yourself  or  your  family  if  it  became 
known  that  you  had  gotten  anything  out  of  that  mine,  and 
had  it  now  in  your  possession." 

"What  would  you  advise  us  to  do?"  asked  Manning 
anxiously. 

"Get  out  of  here,  and  go  down  to  Sacramento  or  San 
Francisco  as  soon  as  possible,  but  be  very  quiet  about  it,"  he 
said,  fearing  for  their  safety. 

"A  hint  is  enough,"  replied  Manning,  who  was  busy  un 
hitching  his  horses  by  this  time.  "While  we  haven't  very 
much,  yet  we  don't  want  to  lose  any  of  it.  But  we  want 
you  here  tonight  at  our  meeting,  Mr.  Bass.  You  see,  we 
are  to  have  a  report  from  Winters  upon  some  plan  of  co 
operation,  and  you  may  be  of  some  help  to  us." 

"All  right.  I'll  make  my  rounds  and  be  back  here  for  the 
meeting,"  he  said  and  was  off  in  the  performance  of  his  duty. 

Soon  they  were  all  settled  in  the  old  camp  again;  the 
fires  were  started  and  supper  prepared  and  eaten.  Upon 
calling  the  roll,  it  was  found  that  seventeen  out  of  that  party 
of  thirty-eight  were  present  to  hear  the  report  and  plan  of 
Jack  Winters,  who  was  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  and 
a  smooth,  convincing  talker,  which  is  a  necessary  asset  to 
every  successful  lawyer.  The  time  had  now  come  for  him 
to  unfold  his  plan. 

Captain  Manning,  though  tired  from  his  hard  day's  work, 
once  more  resumed  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  caravan,  and 
in  a  short  speech  reminded  them  of  the  appointment,  and 
of  the  importance  of  co-operation.  Then  he  said,  by  way  of 
introducing  the  speaker,  "This  is  the  time,  the  place,  and 


124 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

we  have  with  us  the  man,  who  will  point  out  to  us  the  way 
to  win  a  fortune.  He  is  our  own  Jack  Winters,  and  he  has 
made  the  rounds  of  several  mining  camps  in  this  county,  and 
comes  back  to  us  with  his  plan  outlined.  We  will  now  hear 
from  Mr.  Winters,"  who  responded  as  follows: 

"I  have  something  to  say  to  you,  that  is  true,  comrades, 
for  I  have  just  visited  the  Alpha  and  Omega  Hydraulic  mine; 
the  Malakauf  mine  at  North  Bloomfield,  which  is  the  great 
est  mine  in  the  country,  where  they  have  recovered  some 
six  or  seven  millions  in  gold;  the  North  Columbia,  which  is 
almost  as  productive;  the  Blue  Tent,  and  Sailor  Flats,  which 
are  also  remarkable  for  their  large  productions  in  hydraulic 
mining.  Then  there  are  various  other  mines  in  and  around 
Nevada  City — Quaker  Hill,  Hunts  Flats,  Red  Dog  and  You 
Bet.  All  of  these  mining  camps  are  wonders,  both  in  work 
ings  and  production.  From  the  statistics  that  I  have  been 
able  to  gather,  Nevada  county  has  made  something  like 
eighty  millions  in  gold  from  placer  and  hydraulic  mining, 
and  this  kind  of  mining  has  only  just  begun.  There  is  more 
gold  in  the  gravel  beds  in  this  county  untouched  than  has 
ever  been  taken  out.  I  have  talked  with  several  good  en 
gineers  at  the  various  mines,  and  they  are  of  the  opinion  that 
there  is  easily  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  in  gold  yet  in 
the  gravel  beds  of  this  county.  If  hydraulic  mining  is  allowed 
to  be  continued,  most  of  the  ground  can  be  worked  and  the 
gold  recovered. 

"But  it  takes  money  to  get  started  in  this  kind  of  mining. 
Water  rights,  ditches,  and  pipe  lines  have  to  be  secured;  also, 
giants  and  other  fixtures,  as  well  as  drain  tunnels,  for  sluice 
ways.  The  field  is  large  and  the  gravel  beds  are  plentiful. 
We  can  make  money,  if  we  get  together ;  there  is  no  question 
about  that.  Others  are  making  it,  and  we  are  just  as  smart 
as  the  rest  of  them. 

"My  plan  is  this :     Here  are  several  of  us  on  the  ground 


THE  GREAT   NEW  PLAN 125 

ready  for  work,  but  we  are  short  on  finances  to  start  with. 
With  all  of  our  money  put  together,  we  could  not  finance 
one  of  the  hydraulic  mines,  but  if  we  could  finance  one,  and 
put  it  in  operation,  there  would  be  enough  gold  for  a  thousand 
families. 

"I  have  been  thinking  of  the  hundreds  of  people  back 
home  who  wanted  to  come  when  we  did,  but  could  not.  All 
of  them  have  some  money  that  they  could  spare,  and  if  we 
could  get  them  all  to  go  in  with  us  and  put  their  money  and 
ours  together,  we  could  operate  a  good  mine  and  divide  profits 
with  them.  Of  course,  it  will  take  a  little  time  to  get  the 
word  back  to  them  and  the  money  here,  but  that  will  be  all 
right,  for  it  will  take  a  little  time  to  get  our  property,  and 
our  plans  all  worked  out  to  suit  us,  so  we  could  be  working 
on  that  while  the  money  is  coming,"  and  as  he  paused  a 
moment  Sprouls  spoke  up: 

"What  plan  would  you  work  on?  They  might  not  all  be 
able  to  put  in  an  equal  amount,  and  how  would  you  divide 
the  profits?" 

"Oh,  that  is  easy,"  continued  the  speaker.  "We  will  in 
corporate  a  company  for,  say  a  million  dollars,  and  divide  it 
into  a  million  shares.  Then  we  will  sell  the  shares  at  one 
dollar  each  to  them  and  the  profits  will  be  divided  according 
to  the  number  of  shares  each  one  holds.  We  will  appoint  five 
directors  to  manage  the  company  and  we  can  handle  that 
end  of  it  right  here  among  ourselves.  I  know  we  can  get 
John  Bradshaw,  of  Kansas  City,  to  handle  the  stock  sales 
for  us  back  there.  He  told  me  before  I  left  there,  that  if 
we  got  into  anything  good  out  here,  and  needed  any  help, 
that  they  would  be  glad  to  go  in  with  us  and  make  some 
money,  so  I  am  sure  he  will  raise  all  the  money  we  will  need." 

"It  would  take  a  long  time  to  get  word  back  there,  and 
get  the  money  together,  and  sent  out  here  to  us  for  use  in 
this  work,"  suggested  Manning,  "which  would  delay  us  in 
our  plan  for  some  time."  But  Winters  replied: 


126 


"Not  long.  You  know  the  stage  is  running  regularly  from 
Sacramento  to  Kansas  City  now,  and  it  makes  the  trip  each 
way  in  about  four  weeks.  We  could  have  plenty  of  funds 
back  here  in  ninety  days  or  less." 

"Have  you  any  property  upon  which  to  begin  work?" 
asked  one  of  the  men,  named  Elmer  Jones,  who  had  begun 
to  get  very  interested  and  enthusiastic. 

"Not  exactly,  but  I  know  of  several  good  ones  that  can 
be  had.  I  would  suggest,  however,  that  we  take  the  one  we 
already  have  staked  out  at  Gold  Run  for  a  starter.  Then  we 
can  take  up  some  other  property  as  we  think  best  and  are  able 
to  handle  it." 

"You  don't  think  this  property  at  Gold  Run  is  worth  any 
thing,  do  you?"  demanded  Jones,  who  had  been  there  as  a 
guard,  and  decided  there  was  nothing  there  worth  having. 
Winters  was  amused  at  his  remark,  but  continued : 

"Oh,  yes,  that  is  a  good  property,  but  the  best  values  are 
just  below  where  we  were  camped,  down  next  to  the  bedrock 
in  the  old  channels  and  under  many  feet  of  gravel.  If  we 
build  a  pipe  line  to  it,  put  in  a  sluice  and  drain  tunnel  below 
and  sluice  down  the  great  gravel  bed  there,  that  would  give 
us  something  worth  having.  I  really  think  it  is  a  great  prop 
erty." 

"What  makes  you  think  it  has  any  gold?"  again  asked 
the  guard,  seemingly  doubting  the  value  of  the  property. 

"Well,  there  is  no  question  about  the  gravel  bed  being 
there,  and  wherever  these  gravel  beds  have  been  piped  away, 
there  has  been  plenty  of  gold  recovered.  They  have  been 
worked  successfully  both  above  and  below  us.  The  children 
finding  some  gold  nuggets  upon  the  surface  there  only  goes 
to  prove  the  merits  of  the  property,"  was  his  reply. 

"We  examined  the  property  all  over,  and  found  nothin'," 
persisted  Jones. 

"And  so  did  I  examine  it,  and  I  found  some  nice  'dope,' " 
said  the  lawyer,  pulling  a  handful  of  nuggets  from  his  pocket. 


THE  GREAT  NEW  PLAN 127 

"Did  you  get  that  gold  off  that  property?"  asked  Jones, 
rather  surprised. 

"I  certainly  did,"  replied  Winters,  for  he  was  suspicious  of 
Jones. 

"I  should  like  to  know  where.  I  looked  it  all  over  and 
never  found  anything,  not  even  a  color,"  said  the  guard 
doubtingly. 

"Perhaps  you  didn't  know  where  to  look  for  it,"  continued 
Winters  rebukingly. 

"I  found  a  few,  too,"  said  Manning,  as  he  pulled  two  or 
three  nice  samples  out  of  his  pocket. 

"And  me,  too,"  said  Sprouls,  displaying  some  more  of  the 
precious  metal.  This  startled  the  doubter,  who  exclaimed : 
"What's  the  matter  with  you  fellows?  What  are  you  try 
ing  to  pull  off  on  us,  anyhow?  You  fellows  can't  tell  me 
you  got  all  that  gold  there  on  those  claims.  Here,  now,  tell 
me  where  you  got  it?"  demanded  the  still  doubting  guard, 
who  was  so  perturbed,  that  they  had  a  good  laugh  at  his 
expense.  Then  the  lawyer  proceeded : 

"Yes,  we  did,  Jones.  The  children  here  found  a  nice 
pocket  of  gold  out  there  and  we  got  it  out  and  divided  it 
up  among  us.  We  have  this  and  the  children  each  have  some. 
The  reason  you  didn't  find  it  was  because  Manning's  tent 
sat  upon  the  spot.  We  admit  that  it  was  not  much  and  that 
we  got  it  all,  yet  it  is  an  indication  and  a  foretaste  of  what 
we  may  expect  if  we  go  ahead  and  develop  that  property. 
If  there  was  that  much  there,  you  can  depend  upon  it,  there 
is  more.  I  believe  there  is  a  fortune  in  that  gravel  down 
there,  but  it  is  deep  in  the  gravel,  and  we  won't  find  much 
of  it  on  the  surface.  We've  got  to  go  to  bedrock  for  it.  I 
found  that  out  in  my  rounds  of  the  other  mines.  I  don't  be 
lieve  it  can  be  worked  to  advantage  except  by  the  hydraulic 
process,  however.  That  means  that  we  must  locate  our  water 
supply  and  then  bring  it  to  the  property,  and  with  the  slope 


128 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

we  have  there,  the  rest  ought  to  be  easy  and  simple."  He 
paused  to  see  how  Jones  would  take  it  and  to  his  delight  he 
asked : 

"What  amount  of  capital  do  you  figure  will  be  necessary  ?" 

"I  don't  know  just  where  we  could  get  water,  but  I  should 
say  offhanded,  that  at  least  fifty  thousand  dollars  would  be 
required  to  put  it  in  shape,  and  possibly  more,"  was  the 
cautious  answer. 

"Do  you  think  we  could  raise  that  much  back  home?" 
asked  Jones,  doubtingly. 

"Just  like  raising  so  many  potatoes.  You  could  raise  a 
million  on  the  showings  we  have  here,  if  some  one  could  go 
back  there  with  these  samples,  or  if  we  should  send  them  back, 
it  might  answer  the  purpose,"  said  Winters,  lighting  his  cigar. 

"If  you  can  do  that,  Winters,  I  can't  see  any  need  of  a 
gold  mine.  That  would  be  a  good  gold  mine  in  itself,"  re 
plied  Jones,  with  a  selfish  laugh.  The  rest  began  to  learn 
the  true  character  of  Elmer  Jones,  when  Henry  Manning 
spoke  up:  "But  you've  got  to  give  those  people  something 
for  their  money.  I  wouldn't  want  to  be  connected  with  any 
thing  that  wasn't  on  the  square." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  lawyer,  disgusted  with  Jones'  sug 
gestion.  "We  can  make  plenty  of  money  here  in  an  honest 
way,  just  as  easily  as  thousands  of  others  are  doing,  and  that 
will  be  our  plan." 

Jones,  seeing  his  mistake,  and  realizing  that  here  was  a 
chance  to  make  some  money,  exclaimed : 

"I'm  in  with  you,  if  there  is  a  chance  to  get  in." 

"Here,  too,"  said  Marshal  Bass,  jokingly,  who  had  been 
sitting  near,  taking  in  all  that  had  been  said,  for  he  saw  that 
the  plans  laid  out  by  the  lawyer  were  businesslike. 

"Certainly,  Mr.  Bass,  we  will  save  a  place  in  anything 
we  do  here  for  you,"  put  in  Manning.  "You  have  been  our 
friend  in  need  here,  and  we  will  take  care  of  you  all  right." 


THE  GREAT   NEW  PLAN  129 

John  Sprouls  and  Henry  Manning  then  agreed  to  go  in 
on  it  and  that  made  the  five  necessary  to  organize  a  com 
pany.  Plans  were  discussed  at  some  length  and  it  was  agreed 
to  let  any  of  the  party  who  crossed  the  plains  with  them  in 
on  the  ground  floor,  provided  they  wanted  to  get  in,  and 
would  help  develop  the  property.  Sacramento  was  selected 
as  the  headquarters  for  the  company.  When  the  rest  had 
finished,  Marshal  Bass  spoke  up: 

"Well,  now,  gentlemen,  you  have  had  your  say,  now  I 
want  to  have  mine.  If  I  am  going  to  be  in  with  you  I  want 
to  advise  you  with  what  I  know  to  be  best  in  the  matter.  I 
have  been  here  several  years  now,  and  know  this  country 
and  the  seasons  pretty  well." 

"Go  on,"  shouted  several  at  the  same  time. 

"You  see,  it  is  getting  late  in  the  season,  and  winter  is 
likely  to  set  in  here  any  day.  I  hear  it  has  been  raining  in 
the  mountains  above  us  today,  and  it's  likely  to  be  raining 
here  in  a  few  days.  Then  it  will  turn  to  snow,  which  will 
cover  all  these  hills  many  feet  deep.  It  will  be  impossible 
to  get  supplies  in  here  then  and  you  people  are  here  without 
food  or  feed  for  your  horses.  You  are  taking  great  chances 
in  remaining  here.  I  suggest  that  you  go  to  the  Sacramento 
Valley  for  the  winter,  or  at  least  get  your  families  down  there. 
The  horses  can  live  upon  the  grass,  and  there  will  be  plenty 
of  work  there  so  that  none  need  suffer.  If  you  prefer,  there 
is  work  upon  the  grade  for  the  new  railroad  which  is  to  come 
through  here,  and  which  is  building  now.  There  are  already 
calls  for  teams  and  men.  Then  some  of  you  might  be  so 
charmed  with  the  fine  climate  in  the  valley,  and  the  possibilities 
in  farming,  that  you  may  want  to  take  up  your  homes  there, 
for  there  is  no  place  in  the  country  that  offers  better  advan 
tages  and  more  attractions. 

"Mr.  Winters  can  go  to  Sacramento  and  get  his  papers 
out  for  our  corporation.  Then  the  stage  will  make  a  few 


130 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

more  trips  yet  across  the  summit  before  it  is  blocked  with 
snow  and  each  of  you  can  write  your  friends  back  home  and 
tell  them  of  the  great  chances  they  will  have  to  get  in  on 
this  big  proposition  we  are  about  to  launch.  Tell  them,  if 
they  want  to  get  in  on  it,  to  get  busy  at  once  and  send  out 
their  money.  My  opinion  is  that  it  will  be  the  biggest  thing 
in  the  country  yet. 

"The  road  is  open  to  the  valley  yet,  and  if  you  go  right 
away  you  will  have  no  trouble,  as  it  only  takes  a  few  days 
to  make  the  trip,  but  every  day  of  delay  makes  it  just  that 
much  harder.  If  you  want  to,  you  can  leave  one  or  two  men 
here  upon  your  claims  to  work  it,  or  you  can  leave  them  to  me 
to  look  after  until  the  weather  is  such  that  we  can  work  the 
mine." 

"Your  suggestions  are  timely,"  said  the  lawyer.  "We  are 
more  than  grateful  to  you  for  them.  We  have  been  here  such 
a  short  time  that  we  certainly  need  such  a  friend  as  you,  Mr. 
Bass,  have  proven  yourself  to  be.  We  will  at  once  organize 
our  company,  and  I  will  draw  up  the  papers  in  the  morning 
so  we  can  sign  the  articles  of  incorporation  while  we  are  all 
here  together.  Then  we  will  proceed  to  Sacramento,  where 
we  will  file  them,  and  our  corporation  will  be  ready  for 
business." 

Jack  Winters  was  selected  as  President  and  General  Man 
ager  of  the  Company;  John  Sprouls,  Vice-President ;  Elmer 
Jones,  Secretary;  Henry  Manning,  Treasurer,  and  Marshal 
Bass,  Superintendent  of  the  work. 

The  articles  were  hastily  drawn  up  and  signed  the  next 
morning,  and  everything  got  in  readiness  for  their  departure 
for  the  capital  city  of  California. 

There  were  three  extra  horses  with  the  campers,  that  had 
belonged  to  some  of  their  party  who  had  been  killed  by  the 
Indians  in  Utah,  when  they  came  out.  Manning  got  these 
ready  for  riding.  This  was  something  new,  as  the  men  had 


THE  GREAT   NEW  PLAN 131 

ridden  in  the  wagons,  and  the  extra  horses  had  been  led  be 
hind,  to  be  exchanged  when  the  other  horses  were  tired  out. 

By  the  assistance  of  Marshal  Bass,  three  big  Mexican  sad 
dles  were  procured  for  the  trip.  These  saddles  were  made 
large  and  heavy,  and  were  usually  stuffed  or  padded  on  the 
inside  with  hair  so  as  to  protect  the  backs  of  the  animals  upon 
which  they  were  placed.  Mr.  Manning  had  spent  some  time 
the  evening  before,  working  on  and  fixing  these  saddles  for 
his  own  use,  and  could  be  heard  working  on  them  in  his 
wagon,  long  after  the  rest  had  gone  to  bed.  Next  morning 
they  were  brought  out,  all  in  trim,  and  placed  upon  the 
horses. 

The  caravan  was  almost  ready  to  start,  when  Marshal 
Bass  came  down  and  said  that  the  criminal  charges  of  high- 
grading  were  still  standing  against  Manning  and  Sprouls,  and 
that  they  would  not  be  permitted  to  leave  until  the  matter 
could  be  adjusted,  so  it  was  necessary  for  them  and  the 
attorney  to  call  at  the  office  of  the  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Before  he  left,  Mr.  Manning  ordered  Lew  and  Elmer 
Jones  to  get  their  guns  out  and  see  that  they  were  properly 
loaded,  and  to  remain  with  the  teams  and  wagons  until  the 
matter  could  be  attended  to. 

Marshal  Bass  and  the  attorney  went  to  the  office  of  the 
company  and  were  seen  to  converse  with  Robert  Harding  for 
a  short  time,  then  the  three  men  started  toward  the  office  of 
the  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Manning  and  Sprouls,  who  were  stand 
ing  on  the  ridge  near  the  company's  line,  waited  the  signal 
of  the  Marshal,  which  was  now  given,  and  they  all  met  at 
the  door  of  the  Justice's  office.  Harding  waited  outside  until 
Manning  and  Sprouls  came  up,  then  said  to  them : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  gentlemen,  if  I  have  done  you  any 
wrong.  I  have  been  annoyed  a  great  deal  lately  by  high- 
graders,  and  Mr.  Brooks  made  me  believe  it  was  you  who 
were  the  guilty  parties.  I  did  what  I  thought  was  right,  but 


132 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

the  Marshal  has  convinced  me  since  that  I  had  the  wrong 
men,  for  he  caught  the  right  one  for  me.  You  were  released 
and  he  is  in  your  place.  I  am  willing  now  to  dismiss  the 
charges  against  you  two,  and  to  pay  you  a  hundred  dollars 
each  for  the  time  you  spent  in  jail.  Does  that  make  a  com 
plete  settlement  of  the  case?"  and  he  pulled  out  two  hundred 
dollars  in  gold  coin  from  his  pocket,  and  awaited  their  answer, 
but  neither  spoke. 

The  lawyer  looked  at  the  men  and  asked: 

"What  do  you  say  to  that?    Is  that  satisfactory?" 

"It  is  with  me,"  said  Sprouls,  stroking  his  beard  nervously, 
and  pleased  at  the  sight  of  the  gold. 

"What  do  you  say,  Manning?"  continued  the  attorney. 

"It  would  be  satisfactory  when  one  other  thing  is  attended 
to,  but  not  until  then,"  he  coolly  replied. 

"What  is  that?"  demanded  the  Manager,  a  little  nervously. 

"You  took  two  nuggets  from  me  which  came  from  our 
property  at  Gold  Run,  and  which  were  worth  nearly  two  hun 
dred  dollars.  If  I  get  those  nuggets  back,  I  am  willing  to 
settle  it  that  way,"  said  Manning. 

"He  is  correct  about  that,  Mr.  Harding,"  said  the  lawyer. 
"If  you  can't  hold  the  man,  you  can't  hold  his  gold." 

"That  is  true,  Mr.  Winters,"  put  in  the  Marshal,  "but  we 
want  to  use  this  gold  against  the  man  we  have  in  jail,  for 
he  was  supposed  to  return  it  to  them,  but  stole  it  himself 
instead." 

"In  that  case,  it  is  no  more  than  right  that  Mr.  Harding 
put  up  the  worth  of  the  nuggets  to  the  men  for  their  safe 
return,  or  make  some  satisfactory  settlement  for  the  purchase 
of  them,"  said  Winters. 

"Certainly  I  will  do  that,"  replied  Harding,  seeing  that 
they  were  all  against  him.  "What  are  they  worth?" 

"Mr.  Bass  says  they  are  worth  a  hundred  and  eighty  dol 
lars,  but  I  am  willing  to  take  a  hundred  dollars  and  let  you 
keep  them,"  said  Manning,  anxious  to  settle  it. 


THE  GREAT   NEW  PLAN 133 

"All  right,"  said  Harding,  "that  suits  me,"  and  he  pulled 
out  another  hundred  dollars  and  passed  the  whole  three  hun 
dred  over  to  the  men.  He  then  stepped  into  the  office  and 
had  the  charges  against  them  dismissed,  but  in  such  a  man 
ner  that  his  actions  showed  he  was  not  entirely  satisfied  about 
something. 

The  lawyer  drew  up  a  settlement,  which  they  all  signed, 
then  Harding  remarked  shortly  that  he  must  be  getting  back 
to  his  work,  and  started  towards  the  door,  without  so  much 
as  shaking  hands  with  the  men  to  show  his  good  will,  nor 
telling  them  good-by.  Henry  Manning  noticed  his  diffident 
manner  and  stopped  him  on  his  way  out.  "Isn't  this  satis 
factory  to  you?"  he  asked.  "I  settled  on  your  own  terms, 
but  you  act  as  if  it  didn't  please  you  somehow.  If  the  price 
of  the  nuggets  isn't  favorable  to  you,  I  will  give  you  back 
the  money  and  take  the  nuggets." 

"Oh,  not  at  all,  Mr.  Manning.  Everything  is  all  right," 
he  said  shortly  without  looking  up. 

"All  right,  then.  I  just  thought  you  were  acting  strange, 
that's  all." 

"Not  at  all,  sir,  not  at  all,"  returned  Harding,  and  turned 
to  go  when  Manning  asked: 

"Will  you  shake  hands  on  that  then,  in  the  presence  of 
these  men?" 

"Sure,"  and  he  put  out  his  hand  and  shook  with  Manning, 
but  never  offered  to  shake  with  the  rest.  They  all  watched 
him  as  he  disappeared  and  when  he  was  out  of  sight  the 
lawyer  remarked: 

"You  can  say  what  you  please  about  that  man,  but  he 
did  act  peculiar  and  he  went  away  with  a  downcast  look  on 
his  face." 

"I  have  known  Harding  for  a  long  time,  and  I  never  knew 
him  to  act  that  way  before,"  said  the  Marshal,  somewhat 
puzzled.  "Now  that  I  think  of  it,  I'm  sorry  we  told  him 


134 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

that  you  were  leaving.  I  don't  think  he  himself  would  do 
you  any  bodily  harm,  but  it  might  be  well  to  keep  a  close 
watch  out,  for  he  knows  you  have  three  hundred  dollars  with 
you  anyway." 

"We  are  used  to  watching  Indians,  and  I  guess  we  can 
take  care  of  that  man,"  said  Sprouls,  with  a  tug  at  his  beard. 

"But  you  won't  be  dealing  with  that  man,"  said  Bass, 
cautiously.  "He  won't  bother  you  personally,  but  he  has 
lots  of  hirelings,  and,  goodness  knows,  it  would  be  better  for 
you  if  you  were  dealing  with  the  Indians  instead  of  them." 

Their  business  over,  the  men  went  to  the  camp  to  make 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  leaving.  Mr.  Manning  se 
lected  one  of  the  riding  horses  for  his  personal  use,  but  the 
saddle  did  not  suit  him  somehow,  so  he  removed  it,  and,  tak 
ing  it  into  the  wagon,  worked  on  it  for  some  time.  Then 
he  replaced  it  on  the  horse,  called  out  "All  ready,"  and  the 
caravan  started  on  its  journey  ings  once  more,  with  Manning 
in  command.  He  ordered  Winters  and  Jones  to  carefully 
arm  themselves  and  join  him  in  riding  the  horses,  and  the 
children  were  placed  in  the  wagons  to  drive  the  teams.  When 
they  started,  John  Sprouls  was  in  the  lead,  the  men  on  horse 
back  following  closely  behind  them  all. 

They  had  scarcely  gotten  the  train  in  motion,  when  they 
saw  Marshal  Bass  running  toward  them,  and  heard  him  say 
something  to  the  Captain  which  caused  Manning  to  exclaim, 
"That  beats  the  Sam  Patch." 


CHAPTER  XI 
MAKING  A  WATER  HAUL 

For  some  time  Henry  Manning  and  Marshal  Bass  stood 
talking  and  pointing  in  different  directions,  but  the  rest  were 
all  under  way  on  the  road  to  the  valley  below.  The  trip 
could  be  made  quite  rapidly,  as  it  was  mostly  all  down  grade. 
Dutch  Flat  was  something  like  three  thousand  feet  in  eleva 
tion,  while  the  city  of  Sacramento  was  but  a  few  feet  above 
sea  level. 

Mr.  Manning  presently  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  was 
soon  galloping  alongside  of  the  wagons  and  giving  orders 
that  every  man  in  the  caravan  have  his  gun  in  readiness  to 
use  upon  a  moment's  notice,  but  only  upon  the  command  of 
the  Captain. 

"What  is  all  this  fuss  about  guns  and  shooting,  Manning?" 
was  the  question  put  to  the  Captain  from  among  his  men. 

"I  was  just  advised,"  replied  the  Captain,  "that  this  coun 
try  in  the  foothills  is  full  of  thieves  and  robbers,  and  the 
word  has  gotten  out  that  we  have  money  with  us.  At  least, 
it  is  known  that  three  hundred  dollars  was  paid  us  by  the 
General  Manager  of  the  Company  mine,  and  they  think  we 
made  a  haul  at  Gold  Run,  too,  so  we  are  warned  to  be  on 
the  lookout  every  minute." 

"What  was  Mr.  Bass  telling  you  that  was  so  interesting 
and  seemed  to  worry  you  so,  as  we  were  just  starting?"  asked 
Winters  in  considerable  concern.  The  Captain  looked  grave 
as  he  replied : 

"He  said  that  Harding  had  called  off  his  guards  from 
the  works  at  the  mine  as  the  cleanup  was  about  completed, 
and  that  he  had  left  but  one  guard  on  duty  and  sent  the 
others  away  on  horseback  by  another  trail.  The  one  who 
was  left  behind  was  Smith,  who  befriended  us,  and  the  others 
left  in  a  hurry,  taking  a  road  that  leads  into  this  one  at  a 

135 


136 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

distance  of  some  ten  miles  below.  While  we  don't  know 
the  mission  of  those  men,  yet  it  looked  suspicious  at  this 
time.  Bass  said  he  did  not  think  they  would  do  anything 
themselves,  holding  the  jobs  that  they  do,  but  that  they  might 
carry  messages  to  other  men,  who  might  not  care  so  much 
for  law  and  order,  so  he  warned  us  to  be  on  the  lookout. 
The  possession  of  gold  is  a  dangerous  thing  in  a  country  like 
this,  if  it  is  known,  for  that  is  what  everybody  is  out  here  for." 

"I  saw  those  men  leave  on  horseback  myself,"  said  Winters, 
turning  to  look  in  that  direction,  as  if  he  expected  to  see 
them.  "But  it  did  not  occur  to  me  that  there  might  be  any 
thing  out  of  the  way  until  you  mentioned  it.  There  is  a 
goodly  number  of  us,  though,  and  only  two  of  them,  and  we 
will  try  to  give  a  good  accounting  of  ourselves." 

"Under  these  circumstances,  Sprouls  is  too  nervous  a  man 
to  have  in  the  lead,"  whispered  Winters.  "Better  put  the 
coolest  man  you  have  there." 

"I  was  just  thinking  of  that  myself,"  said  Manning. 
"Nothing  excites  Lew,  and  I  was  thinking  of  giving  him 
that  place  and  putting  Sprouls  about  the  middle  of  the  twelve 
wagons.  Then  I  will  place  one  horseman  two  hundred  paces 
in  the  rear,  and  two  horsemen  the  same  distance  in  front. 
If  any  one  suspicious  is  sighted,  let  them  fire  off  a  six-shooter 
as  though  they  were  firing  at  a  rabbit  or  something  at  the 
side  of  the  road,  and  at  this  signal  every  man  will  grab  his 
gun  and  get  ready  for  business." 

So  the  teams  were  arranged,  and  the  instructions  given. 
They  all  moved  steadily  along  for  some  miles  without  any 
thing  happening  of  an  unusual  nature.  Noon  arrived,  and 
while  the  teams  were  being  fed,  and  while  the  party  were 
eating  their  lunch,  Henry  Manning  continued  on  guard  up 
and  down  the  road,  showing  more  uneasiness  than  at  any 
time  since  they  had  left  the  "states." 

In  his  anxiety  he  went  too  far  ahead  and,  to  his  utter 


MAKING  A  WATER  HAUL 137 

surprise,  when  he  looked  back  he  saw  two  men  on  horse 
back  and  two  men  on  foot  come  out  of  the  brush  into  the 
road  between  him  and  the  camp.  He  was  completely  cut  off 
from  the  wagons,  and  well  did  he  know  that  to  attempt  to 
get  back  would  mean  certain  death  to  him.  The  robbers  had 
not  seen  him,  but  when  he  saw  he  could  not  get  back  he 
rode  away  from  them  until  he  knew  he  was  out  of  range  of 
their  shots,  and  then  stepping  aside  into  the  brush,  he  fired 
his  six-shooter  as  a  signal  to  his  companions.  But  the  dis 
tance  was  too  great  and  they  did  not  hear  it. 

The  robbers  made  a  rush  for  the  wagons  while  the  occu 
pants  were  at  their  noon-day  meal,  and,  being  taken  by  sur 
prise,  they  dared  not  draw  their  guns,  for  the  four  highway 
men  stood  over  them  with  four  guns  pointed  in  their  faces. 

"Put  your  hands  up  there,  and  don't  one  of  you  move  a 
peg  or  you  will  die  in  your  boots,"  was  the  gruff  command. 
"We'll  not  shoot  you  if  you're  quiet,  but  you've  got  some 
dough,  and  we  want  it,  so  you  might  just  as  well  shell  out 
first  as  last." 

"Well,  you  sure  have  the  drop  on  us,"  said  Winters  coolly. 
"If  that  is  all  you  want,  just  help  yourselves,  and  we  won't 
stop  you." 

"Stack  them  guns,"  commanded  one  bandit  to  the  lawyer. 

"We  are  pretty  used  to  hunting  Indians,"  said  Winters, 
as  he  began  to  stack  his  comrades'  guns.  "But  I  see  it  is 
better  to  run  into  you  fellows  than  the  Indians,  for  they  are 
out  to  kill  and  you  only  want  gold." 

"Get  a  move  on  you,  and  don't  try  to  monkey  with  us," 
answered  the  bandit. 

"Well,  I  don't  blame  you  for  hunting  gold,"  continued 
Winters.  "We  are  hunting  it,  too.  We  came  all  the  way 
from  old  Missouri  to  hunt  it,  and  precious  little  have  we  found 
so  far."  His  coolness  gave  the  others  courage. 

"What  are  you  trying  to  give  us?"  sneered  the  bandit. 


138 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"What  did  you  do  with  that  big  haul  you  made  at  the  Flat?" 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  we  are  new  arrivals  and  just  came 
across  the  plains,"  continued  the  lawyer.  "We  are  on  our  way 
to  Sacramento,  where  we  expect  to  winter,  and  then  try  our 
luck  at  mining  next  spring." 

"We've  been  told  that  you  robbed  the  'cleanup'  at  the  Com 
pany  Mine  in  Dutch  Flat,  and  are  trying  to  get  away  with 
it,"  said  the  bandit.  "It's  time  to  get  busy  and  dig  it  up." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Bandit,"  again  ventured  the 
lawyer,  "you  are  certainly  mistaken,  and  have  the  wrong 
crowd." 

"We've  heard  that  kind  of  stories  before.  We'll  just 
satisfy  ourselves." 

"Very  well,  that's  all  right  with  us,"  replied  Winters.  "Go 
ahead  and  search  us  and  our  wagons  if  you  want  to,  but  all 
you  will  find  is  a  little  pocket  money.  If  you  can  find  any 
bullion  or  gold  dust  in  this  outfit,  except  a  few  pieces  that 
were  given  us  by  friends,  you  are  welcome  to  it." 

"Don't  try  to  fool  us  that  way,"  snapped  the  bandit.  "You 
people  move  out  in  a  line  on  the  other  side  of  the  road  and 
stand  with  your  backs  to  the  wagons.  Don't  you  move  a 
peg,  or  we'll  let  the  daylight  through  you  mighty  quick. 
We've  got  to  be  moving." 

"Just  as  you  say,"  replied  the  lawyer,  smiling  and  as  cool 
as  if  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  were  taking  place.  "I  will 
help  you  search  for  the  gold  if  you  need  any  assistance,  for 
I  have  been  looking  for  it  for  the  last  thirty  years,  and  I  find 
it  a  very  interesting  hunt." 

In  the  meantime  Henry  Manning,  seeing  the  plight  he  was 
in,  and  knowing  it  would  be  useless  for  him  to  interfere, 
rode  to  a  place  of  safety  and  climbed  up  in  a  tree  so  that 
he  could  get  a  full  view  of  the  camp.  When  he  saw  them 
all  lined  up  in  the  road  with  none  hurt,  he  breathed  easier. 

One  bandit  stood  guard   over  the  line   of  people,  while 


MAKING  A  WATER  HAUL 139 

the  rest  searched  the  wagons,  turning  everything  out  of  trunks, 
boxes,  sacks  and  bags  into  the  road,  but  no  gold  was  found. 
When  they  had  satisfied  themselves  that  there  was  no  gold 
in  the  wagons,  they  turned  to  search  the  party  for  personal 
effects  and  money.  All  they  found  was  some  pocket  change 
and  a  few  cheap  watches. 

"Keep  them,"  said  the  bandit  to  the  lawyer,  who  was  jok 
ing  with  them.  "This  ain't  what  we  want.  They  would  just 
lead  to  our  capture,  forjyou  would  identify  them.  We  were 
told  that  you  had  made  a  big  haul  and  we  want  to  know  where 
it  is.  If  you  don't  tell  us,  we  will  use  our  guns  on  you."  But 
his  demeanor  was  not  so  fierce  as  before,  for  he  began  to 
feel  that  he  was  either  beaten  at  his  own  game,  or  had  gotten 
the  wrong  crowd.  Somewhat  puzzled,  he  demanded: 

"Tell  me,  what  have  you  done  with  the  gold?" 

"We  never  had  any,"  spoke  up  Elmer  Jones  with  all 
earnestness,  for  he  knew  nothing  of  the  gold  that  had  been 
mined  by  Manning  and  the  rest. 

"Are  you  telling  me  the  truth?"  demanded  the  leader. 

"We  sure  are,"  replied  Jones. 

"Are  there  any  more  of  this  crew  along  the  road  some 
where?" 

"All  our  wagons  are  here  in  this  bunch,  but  I  think  you 
will  find  some  other  campers  in  the  rear.  We  left  some  be 
hind,  but  they  don't  belong  to  our  party.  They  might  be 
the  people  you  are  looking  for." 

"Get  your  horses,  men,"  cried  the  captain  of  the  bandits. 
"Take  those  two  there  already  saddled,  and  we  will  go  for 
the  bunch  in  the  rear.  Now  you  people  stand  there  and  don't 
you  make  a  move  until  we're  out  of  sight,  or  we'll  take  a  shot 
at  you,"  he  continued. 

Two  of  the  men  mounted  their  own  horses,  and  the  other 
two,  who,  for  some  reason,  were  on  foot,  took  the  two  saddled 
horses  belonging  to  Manning's  crowd.  Sprouls  became  very 


140 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

uneasy  at  this,  but  a  headshake  from  the  lawyer  kept  him 
quiet,  and  as  the  men  started  off,  Winters  called  to  them : 
"Say,  boys,  the  horses  are  ours,  but  the  saddles  belong  to 
Marshal  Bass  of  Dutch  Flat.  He's  an  old  friend  of  ours 
from  Missouri  and  we  borrowed  them  from  him.  If  you'll 
return  them  to  him,  we'll  be  ever  so  much  obliged  to  you." 

"What?  You're  sure  they  belong  to  him?"  asked  the 
leader  of  the  band. 

"There  is  his  name  branded  on  the  horn  of  the  saddle," 
was  the  reply. 

The  four  men  rode  off  hurriedly,  but  engaged  in  a  very 
earnest  conversation  about  something,  and  no  sooner  were 
they  out  of  sight  than  Henry  Manning  slipped  down  from 
the  tree  and,  mounting  his  horse,  rode  swiftly  back  to  the 
wagons,  and  seeing  that  all  were  there  unharmed,  said : 

"Well,  boys,  that  is  better  than  I  ever  expected  we  would 
get  off  with,  and  it  beats  shooting  and  killing  all  to  pieces." 

"Yes,  but  we  have  lost  two  of  our  horses,  and  other  valu 
ables  besides,"  replied  Sprouls,  who  was  dancing  about  ex 
citedly  and  tugging  at  his  beard.  "Where  were  you  that  you 
did  not  give  us  the  signal?" 

"Never  mind  the  horses,"  was  the  reply.  "Just  thank 
your  stars  that  you  are  alive  yourself,  for  there  are  more 
horses,  and  we  will  be  unmolested  from  now  on.  As  for 
myself,  I  was  attending  to  my  job,  which  proved  to  be  too 
big  for  one  man.  But  why  were  you  taken  so  by  surprise?" 
to  which  Winters  replied: 

"We  were  depending  on  you  to  guard  us,  and  give  us 
the  signal  if  there  was  danger,  so  we  were  eating  our  dinners 
in  peace,  thinking  we  were  perfectly  safe,  when  all  of  a  sud 
den  we  heard  the  command  to  put  up  our  hands  and  there 
stood  four  bandits  with  their  guns  leveled  at  us.  It  was  too 
late  then  to  make  a  move." 

"Didn't  you  hear  the  horses  coming?" 


141 


"Yes,  but  we  thought  it  was  your  horse,  for  we  knew 
you  were  out  there  a  moment  before.  What  took  you  away 
so  quickly  and  so  far?"  he  asked. 

"Well,  sir,  I  saw  those  two  guards  who  left  the  Flat  just 
ahead  of  us,  over  on  the  other  road,  and  I  was  so  busy  watch 
ing  their  movements  that  I  got  further  away  from  you  than 
I  intended  to.  I  recognized  them  through  my  glasses,  and 
their  actions  were  so  suspicious  that  I  determined  to  keep 
my  eye  on  them,  not  dreaming  that  they  had  confederates  in 
this  vicinity.  They  visited  that  little  mining  camp  over 
across  the  gulch  yonder,  and  stood  talking  to  the  men  a 
moment.  Then  they  moved  on  slowly,  and  I  kept  my  eyes 
on  them.  I  saw  these  four  men,  riding  two  on  a  horse,  come 
across  the  gulch,  but  thought  nothing  of  it,  and  did  not  notice 
where  they  were  going  until  they  came  into  the  road  between 
me  and  the  wagons.  They  did  not  see  me  at  all,  as  I  was 
standing  quietly  behind  a  bunch  of  sage  brush. 

"Then  I  saw  them  jump  off  their  horses,  get  out  their 
guns,  and  begin  to  slip  up  on  you,  and  I  darted  into  the 
brush  and  fired  my  revolver,  but  I  guess  you  never  heard  it, 
or  if  you  did  it  was  too  late  then.  I  knew  I  was  safe  there 
in  the  thicket,  and  that  it  would  be  useless  for  me  to  try  and 
get  to  the  wagons,  so  I  decided  to  remain  where  I  was.  I 
climbed  a  tall  pine  tree,  and  with  my  glasses  watched  every 
move  they  made,  and  when  I  saw  that  none  of  you  were 
being  hurt  and  only  the  wagons  robbed,  I  thanked  my  stars 
that  it  was  turning  out  as  it  was.  Of  course,  I  felt  bad  when 
I  saw  them  take  the  horses,  but  how  they  will  be  able  to  get 
away  with  them  is  more  than  I  can  understand, — but,  ssh! 
I  hear  horses  coming  back  down  the  road  now.  TO  YOUR 
GUNS,  MEN !  And  don't  let  them  get  the  drop  on  us  this 
time !"  commanded  the  Captain. 

In  a  moment  every  man  was  in  possession  of  his  rifle 
and  side  arms.  They  were  placed  behind  stumps,  trees  and 


142 


sage  brush,  with  orders  to  shoot  as  soon  as  Manning  gave 
the  word.  Every  gun  was  cocked  and  the  cap  carefully  ex 
amined  to  be  sure  it  was  a  good  one,  and  properly  in  place. 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs,  gal 
loping  on  the  hard  road.  Soon,  a  lone  horseman,  leading  two 
other  horses,  hove  in  sight.  As  he  drew  nearer  to  the  camp, 
Henry  Manning  took  the  glasses  from  his  eyes  and  called 
the  battle  off. 

"It's  Marshal  Bass  with  our  two  horses,"  he  cried,  and 
"Old  Missouri"  shouted  out,  "Glory  to  God!"  as  he  jerked 
off  his  hat,  putting  his  cob  pipe  in  his  pocket  without  empty 
ing  the  fire  and  ashes  from  it. 

They  all  ran  out  to  meet  the  Marshal,  and  to  learn  how 
he  had  made  the  capture  of  the  horses  so  soon. 

"What  has  happened  here?"  cried  Bass,  as  he  looked  at 
their  goods  scattered  in  the  road  and  saw  that  every  one 
was  greatly  excited. 

"We  have  been  held  up  and  robbed,"  quickly  shouted 
"Missouri,"  but  Winters  laughed,  and  Manning  remarked, 
"Yes,  but  it's  not  as  bad  as  it  might  have  been." 

"Who  did  the  job?"  asked  the  Marshal,  nervously. 

"Didn't  you  meet  four  men  up  the  road?"  quietly  asked 
Manning. 

"No"  was  his  reply. 

"Where  did  you  get  our  two  horses?" 

"I  found  these  horses  loose  in  the  road,  and  recognizing 
them  by  my  saddles,  I  knew  they  were  yours  and  decided  to 
bring  them  to  you,"  said  the  Marshal  in  astonishment. 

"Didn't  you  see  any  men  at  all?  They  went  up  that  way 
just  a  few  minutes  ago,"  replied  Winters.  "There  were  four 
of  them,  two  were  on  horseback  and  two  came  on  foot.  They 
took  two  of  our  horses  for  the  footmen  to  make  their  get 
away  on.  But  as  they  were  riding  off,  I  shouted  to  them 
that  the  saddles  were  yours,  and  for  them  to  return  them  to 


MAKING  A  WATER  HAUL 143 

you,  as  you  were  our  friend,  and    we    had    only    borrowed 
them  from  you."     The  Marshal  laughed  and  said: 

"That  was  great!  The  best  thing  you  could  have  said 
to  them.  I  see  through  it  all  now.  I  knew  there  was  going 
to  be  trouble  from  the  way  Harding  acted.  I  knew  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  settlement  this  morning,  and  when  I 
saw  him  send  out  two  of  his  guards  ahead  of  you,  I  knew 
there  was  going  to  be  trouble.  I  didn't  expect  it  so  early 
in  the  day,  though,  but  I  knew  it  was  coming,  so  I  decided  to 
get  my  horse  and  overtake  you  and  see  you  through  it.  I 
knew  you  were  not  so  likely  to  be  molested  if  I  was  along, 
because  they  all  know  me;  so  I  decided  to  stay  with  you  for 
a  while  anyway,  as  I  don't  want  any  of  you  to  be  killed  and 
our  plans  of  business  upset. 

"I  wondered  how  these  horses  came  to  be  loose  in  the  road, 
and  since  I  come  to  think  about  it,  I  did  see  four  men  cross 
ing  the  gulch  on  foot,  leading  two  horses.  I  put  my  glasses 
on  them  and  saw  they  were  company  men,  working  in  Robert 
Harding's  lower  camp,  and  thought  nothing  more  of  it.  I 
never  dreamed  that  they  had  been  here  and  done  this  kind 
of  a  job." 

"Those  are  the  fellows,"  replied  Manning.  "I  saw  them 
coming  across  the  gulch,  too,  but  never  thought  of  trouble 
from  them.  I  was  watching  the  two  guards  who  left  the  Flat 
just  ahead  of  us." 

"Where  are  they  now?"  asked  the  Marshal. 

"Across  the  gulch  yonder,  about  a  mile  away.  You  can 
see  them  by  the  aid  of  your  glasses.  Just  why  they  are  fooling 
along  that  road  so  leisurely,  I  don't  know,"  replied  Manning. 

"Did  these  fellows  get  anything  from  you?"  asked  Bass. 

"Nothing  but  our  horses,  and  you  have  returned  them." 

"What  was  their  excuse  for  robbing  you,  if  they  gave 
any?" 

"They  said  we  had  robbed  the  company's  plant  at  the  Flat, 


144 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

during  the  cleanup,"  replied  the  lawyer.  "They  searched 
every  box  and  trunk  and  sack.  In  fact,  they  upturned  every 
thing  in  our  wagons,  and  if  there  had  been  any  gold  there 
they  would  have  found  it.  They  examined  our  watches  and 
pocket  change,  but  took  nothing." 

"I  see.  These  men  are  not  bandits,  but  are  in  the  em 
ploy  of  Harding,  and  work  in  his  lower  camp.  Tell  me,  were 
the  two  guards  in  that  camp  before  these  fellows  came  over 
here?"  asked  Bass. 

"Yes,"  replied  Manning,  "I  saw  them  ride  into  the  camp 
there  and  stay  for  quite  a  while,  then  ride  down  the  north 
trail.  They  have  been  fooling  along  there  ever  since." 

"It  is  all  clear  to  me  now,"  said  the  Marshal.  "Harding 
was  in  with  Brooks  on  that  deal  to  beat  you  men  out  of  the 
claims,  and  they  were  beat  themselves  instead,  so  Brooks  had 
you  arrested  for  revenge,  but  he  was  a  thief  and  I  caught 
him.  They  think  you  people  made  a  big  cleanup  on  those 
claims,  and  are  trying  to  get  away  with  the  bullion.  They 
figured  that  you  must  have  it  with  you  in  your  wagons,  so 
Harding  sent  the  two  guards  to  his  lower  camp  with  orders 
for  the  four  guards  to  hold  you  up  and  capture  the  gold,  on 
the  pretext  that  you  had  robbed  the  cleanup.  If  they  had 
found  any  gold  in  your  possession,  they  would  certainly  have 
made  you  trouble,  and  you  likely  wouldn't  have  been  able  to 
get  out  of  here  this  winter. 

"I  was  put  next  to  the  fact  that  something  was  wrong  by 
the  guard,  Abe  Smith,  who  was  on  duty  at  the  cleanup  at 
the  time  of  your  arrest.  He  said  he  didn't  know  what  the 
trouble  was,  but  said  that  Robert  Harding  came  back  from 
the  Justice's  office  swearing  and  talking  about  being  robbed. 
He  said  Harding  called  the  two  guards  to  him  and  after  talk 
ing  to  them  for  a  few  minutes,  sent  them  away  on  their 
horses,  so  Smith  came  and  told  me  about  it.  I  thought  it 
best  to  travel  with  you  for  a  while  anyway,  but  I  guess  I 
was  a  little  too  late  to  see  the  fun." 


MAKING  A  WATER  HAUL 145 

"It  was  no  fun  for  us,"  put  in  Mrs.  Manning,  who  was 
still  trembling. 

"I  am  surprised  at  the  turn  things  have  taken,"  continued 
the  Marshal.  "I  was  in  hopes  Harding  would  take  a  hint, 
throw  Brooks  over  and  straighten  up  himself,  but  I  see  he 
is  just  as  tricky  as  Brooks.  I  am  convinced  now  that  he 
was  in  the  plot  to  beat  you  to  the  claims,  but  I  was  too  cute 
for  them  and  caught  his  engineer.  I  believe  he  will  turn 
Brooks  loose  if  there  is  half  a  chance,  but  I  have  the  evi 
dence  against  him,  and  the  captured  gold  is  in  the  bank.  I 
will  get  my  per  cent  of  it  before  it  is  released,  and  if  Harding 
is  not  careful  I  will  get  him,  too.  He  is  only  working  as 
General  Manager  for  the  company,  and  I  have  some  pretty 
good  evidence  against  him  now.  If  I  had  a  mind  to,  I  could 
take  it  to  the  officers  of  the  company,  and  I  have  a  big  notion 
to  do  so,  for  he  has  played  a  dirty  trick  on  you." 

"Wouldn't  this  be  sufficient  evidence  against  him?"  asked 
Manning. 

"Not  exactly,  for  his  guards  have  a  right  to  search  for 
stolen  gold,  but  as  he  took  your  horses,  we  might  make  a 
case  against  him.  I  thought  it  was  the  three  hundred  dollars 
he  was  after,  and  it  is  strange  indeed  to  me  that  they  didn't 
find  it.  You  fellows  must  be  pretty  smooth  yourselves  to 
cover  up  coin  so  well  that  those  men  couldn't  find  it." 

"They  had  a  part  of  it  once,  but  didn't  know  it,"  laughed 
Sprouls. 

"How  was  that?"  asked  the  Marshal,  but  Manning  shook 
his  head  and  "Missouri"  said  nothing  more,  than  to  remark 
that  "they  went  through  our  pockets." 

"What  I  am  interested  in  most  of  all,  Bass,"  said  the 
lawyer,  "is  whether  it  ends  here,  or  whether  there  will  be 
another  attempt  to  rob  us.  We  all  have  some  money  with 
us  that  those  fellows  didn't  find,  but  we  will  need  it  this  winter 
for  living  expenses  and  in  getting  our  company  on  its  feet." 


146 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  can't  answer  that  question  just  yet,"  continued  the 
officer.  "I  will  watch  the  movements  of  those  two  guards 
when  they  get  back  to  the  lower  camp,  and  also  see  the  four 
guards  who  made  the  raid  on  you.  If  they  are  satisfied  that 
you  have  no  gold,  you  won't  be  bothered  again,  but  if  they 
think  you  have  it  still,  they  may  make  another  attempt  to  get 
it.  Get  your  wagons  under  way  again,  Captain,  and  I  will 
join  you  in  watching  their  movements." 

The  horses  were  soon  hitched  to  the  wagons,  and  the 
goods  all  put  back  in  place.  When  they  were  ready  to  move 
on,  the  Captain  placed  the  men  in  charge  of  the  wagons  this 
time  as  drivers,  and  put  his  two  boys  on  the  extra  horses  to 
ride.  He  instructed  them  to  watch  for  any  sign  of  danger, 
and  in  case  of  another  raid,  to  turn  the  horses  into  the  brush 
and  get  out  of  sight  as  quickly  as  possible.  If  the  robbers 
saw  them  they  would  probably  think  the  two  boys  were  just 
frightened  and  trying  to  get  out  of  sight,  so  would  not  molest 
them,  but  turn  their  attention  to  the  wagons. 

"Now,  men,"  said  the  Captain,  "don't  be  taken  by  sur 
prise  again.  We  must  take  nothing  for  granted  on  the  rest 
of  our  trip  to  the  capital  city.  This  has  taught  me  a  lesson, 
and  I  hope  that  it  has  you,  too,"  and  soon  they  were  all  under 
way  again,  the  two  boys  riding  ahead,  and  Mrs.  Manning 
driving  their  team.  Manning  and  the  Marshal  remained  be 
hind  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  men  across  the  gulch. 

The  four  guards  had  returned  to  the  lower  "diggin's"  by 
this  time,  but  the  other  two  were  loitering  along  the  road 
near  the  camp,  waiting  to  see  what  success  the  robbers  had 
had  in  their  raid.  The  six  men  met,  and  held  a  short  con 
ference.  Immediately,  the  two  guards  mounted  their  horses 
and  made  off  in  the  direction  of  Dutch  Flat,  some  miles  back 
up  the  mountainside. 

These  actions  very  much  worried  the  Captain  and  Marshal 
Bass. 


CHAPTER  XII 
DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 

"Well,  I  am  mighty  glad  to  pull  these  things  out  of  that 
wagon,"  said  Henry  Manning,  as  they  moved  their  goods 
from  the  wagon  into  a  small  house  in  Sacramento.  "The  last 
week's  travel  has  worried  me  more  than  all  the  trip  across 
the  plains,  Indian  fighting  included." 

"Yes,"  replied  Winters,  who  was  moving  temporarily  into 
the  same  house  with  the  Mannings.  "That  bunch  up  there 
are  a  bad  set.  They  see  nothing  and  care  for  nothing  but 
gold,  gold,  gold.  They  go  the  limit,  and  make  all  kinds  of 
trouble  in  order  to  get  it."  And  the  other  replied : 

"Yes,  the  fascination  of  it  is  something  wonderful.  You 
know,  this  little  bunch  of  our  own  nearly  drives  me  wild  with 
excitement  sometimes.  Now  that  we  are  here,  we  will  get  it 
out  and  have  a  settlement  before  we  sell  the  dust.  Let's  re 
move  these  saddles  off  the  horses  and  take  them  into  the 
house.  Please  call  John  Sprouls  in,  also." 

No  one  except  Lew  and  his  father  knew  where  the  gold 
was  which  they  had  brought  with  them.  Lew  would  not  have 
known  either,  only  he  had  .seen  his  father  putting  some  of 
it  away  when  Mr.  Manning  thought  the  boy  was  asleep,  but 
he  kept  still  about  it.  Sprouls  and  Winters  thought  they 
knew,  but  were  mistaken.  In  fact,  they  did  not  care  to  know 
where  it  was,  for  in  case  of  holdups,  they  could  not  be  made 
to  tell  if  they  didn't  know.  But  now  that  the  journey  was 
ended,  the  battles  all  fought  and  the  holdups  all  over,  Manning 
was  willing  to  reveal  his  secret  and  have  his  laugh  on  the 
rest.  Later,  when  the  other  campers  saw  the  great  quantity 
of  gold  that  was  concealed  in  the  train  and  which  had  actually 
been  brought  through  in  safety,  they  could  not  express  their 

147 


148 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

surprise  in  words,  for  the  train  had  been  held  up  twice  and 
searched,  but  no  gold  was  found.  They  all  supposed  there 
was  none  until  it  was  revealed  to  them. 

As  soon  as  they  were  all  assembled  in  Mr.  Manning's 
house,  he  addressed  them  as  follows: 

"Dear  friends,  we  have  reached  the  end  of  our  journey 
at  last,  and  in  safety.  We  must  congratulate  ourselves  that 
none  were  killed  in  the  holdups.  It  was  fortunate  for  us  that 
we  were  taken  by  surprise  and  did  not  resist  the  robbers,  for 
some  of  us  would  surely  have  been  killed  if  we  had.  Those 
fellows  are  all  quick  with  their  guns,  and  would  just  as  soon 
shot  us  as  not,  if  the  circumstances  demanded  it.  But,  as  a 
rule,  they  won't  hurt  anyone  if  they  are  allowed  to  search 
as  they  want  to.  I  think  it  was  largely  the  good  work  of 
Winters  here,  and  his  cool  way  of  talking  to  the  bandits,  that 
saved  us  and  our  gold,  too. 

"They  surely  thought  we  had  something  with  us,  and  we 
did,  but  they  failed  to  find  it,  although  they  made  two  at 
tempts,  for  we  had  it  too  well  concealed  for  even  their  keen 
eyes.  It  remained  safe,  but  the  best  part  of  it  was  that  few 
of  the  rest  of  you  knew  we  had  it,  and  those  of  you  who 
did  know  we  had  it  along  were  in  ignorance  of  the  place 
where  it  was  concealed.  Now  I  am  going  to  reveal  the  secret." 

Manning  then  took  one  of  the  saddles,  and  with  his  jack 
knife,  drew  out  some  of  the  tacks  which  held  the  padding 
on  the  inside,  then  pulled  out  six  sacks  of  gold  dust  or  nug 
gets  which  had  been  wedged  in  with  the  padding.  Then  he 
opened  the  other  side  of  the  saddle  and  pulled  out  a  sack 
with  three  hundred  dollars  in  it  in  twenty-dollar  gold  pieces. 
This  was  the  money  given  to  them  by  Robert  Harding  in  set 
tlement  for  their  false  imprisonment. 

He  took  the  second  saddle  and  did  likewise,  and  then  the 
third,  until  twenty-six  small  sacks  of  gold  were  taken  out 
and  piled  up  in  a  heap  on  the  floor.  Elmer  Jones,  who  had 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 149 

been  looking  on  with  unbelieving  eyes,  for  he  was  known 
to  them  all  as  "Doubting  Thomas,"  finally  ventured  to  ask: 

"What  have  you  in  those  little  bags?" 

"Gold,"  was  the  reply  from  the  other,  as  he  smiled. 

"Well,  I'm  from  Missouri,"  was  his  quick  answer.  "You'll 
have  to  show  me." 

"That  is  easy,"  replied  Manning,  and  untying  one  of  the 
sacks,  he  poured  the  gold  out  upon  a  newspaper.  "Does  that 
satisfy  you?"  but  Jones  kept  a  jealous  silence,  as  though  if 
he  could  not  have  it  he  did  not  want  anyone  else  to  have  it. 

Manning  opened  another  bag,  and  still  another,  until  he 
had  emptied  all  the  sacks  into  one  great  heap  on  the  paper. 
It  was  really  a  small  mountain  of  gold,  and  each  one  examined 
it  to  be  sure  his  eyes  had  not  deceived  him.  The  three  chil 
dren,  Lew  and  Robert  Manning,  and  Myrtle  Winters,  who 
had  discovered  the  gold  in  the  first  place,  stood  looking  upon 
the  great  treasure  with  the  others,  when  Myrtle  asked,  looking 
up  into  Mr.  Manning's  face,  "Is  all  this  gold  our  very  own?" 
and  a  look  of  satisfaction  passed  over  her  little  face  as  he 
answered  that  it  was,  for  even  she  realized  what  it  meant  to 
have  gold. 

"If  it  hadn't  been  for  you  children,  we  would  be  as  poor 
as  ever  right  now,"  continued  Manning. 

"Where  did  it  all  come' from?"  asked  Jones,  who  was  still 
pessimistic. 

"We  got  it  from  the  claims  down  at  Gold  Run,  where  you 
said  there  was  no  gold,  or,  to  use  your  own  words,  'you  could 
eat  all  the  gold  there  was  on  them.'  I  am  thinking  you  would 
have  a  crop  full  if  you  got  away  with  all  that  gold  at  one 
mess,"  was  Manning's  reply,  while  they  all  laughed. 

"Yes,  and  that  gold  came  off  the  property  we  are  going 
to  own  for  our  new  company,"  put  in  Winters.  "I  know  that 
to  be  so,  for  I  helped  dig  it  myself." 

"If  the  people  back  in  old  Missouri,"  suggested  Sprouls, 

10 


150 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

nervously  stroking  his  beard,  "could  only  see  that  pile,  there 
wouldn't  be  so  many  doubters  about  the  California  gold." 

"Just  guard  it  there  for  a  little  while,  and  I  will  go  for 
a  photographer.  We  will  have  a  picture  made  of  it  and  send 
it  back  to  them  to  see  for  themselves,"  said  Winters,  as  he 
ran  out  the  door  and  hurried  down  the  street,  looking  for  a 
photographer.  He  was  soon  back,  and  the  picture  of  the  gold 
was  taken  with  the  three  children  who  had  found  it  stand 
ing  over  it,  delight  in  their  eyes  because  they  were  chosen 
for  this  great  honor.  At  last  Jones  said : 

"If  I  had  known  all  of  that  gold  was  in  our  train  when 
the  bandits  held  us  up,  I  certainly  would  have  collapsed.  I 
could  have  sworn  on  a  stack  of  Bibles  as  high  as  this  house, 
that  there  was  no  gold  in  the  caravan,  except  our  pocket 
money,  but  now  I  see  how  easy  it  is  to  get  fooled  sometimes. 
To  think  that  those  men  had  our  horses  with  the  saddles  full 
of  gold  and  that  we  got  them  back  again  safely  with  no  one 
the  wiser,  was  marvelous,  and  Henry  Manning  certainly  had 
a  head  on  him,  to  think  of  such  a  hiding  place." 

"Now,  Sprouls,"  said  Manning,  "here  is  your  one  hun 
dred  dollars  in  gold  coin  that  Harding  gave  you  and  which 
you  asked  me  to  keep  for  you.  It  was  a  good  thing  you  did, 
for  I  have  saved  it;  whereas,  if  you  had  kept  it  yourself  it 
would  have  been  gone  now.  That  money  was  one  of  the 
things  those  robbers  were  hunting,  for  Harding  had  told  them 
we  had  it,  and  he  is  the  man  who  sent  them  after  it.  Now 
I  restore  it  to  you." 

"Thanks  for  your  kindness,  Henry,"  said  "Missouri,"  tak 
ing  the  gold. 

"Not  at  all!"  replied  Manning.  "But  there  is  one  thing 
more  that  I  want  to  have  settled  right  now." 

"Out  with  it,"  said  "Missouri,"  jerking  his  big  hat  off 
excitedly. 

"How  much  of  that  pile  of  'dirt'  belongs  to  you  ?"  he  asked, 
pointing  to  the  gold. 


The  picture  of  the  gold  was  taken  with  the  three  children  who  found  it. 

Page  151. 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 151 

"I  have  no  claim  on  that,  Henry.  It  was  found  by  the 
three  children,  and  I  am  willing  to  let  them  have  it,"  said 
Sprouls  generously. 

"Yes,  but  you  helped  us  mine  it  and  guard  it,  and  we  want 
you  to  have  some  of  it.  To  show  you  we  mean  to  do  the  right 
thing  by  you,  I  suggest  to  the  children  and  Winters  that  one 
thousand  dollars  be  given  you  for  your  share,"  answered  Man 
ning,  and  Winters  consented. 

"Thank  you,  Manning.  I  didn't  expect  a  dollar  of  it,  but 
if  you  can  do  that  I  am  willing  to  put  half  of  it  into  the  new 
company  to  help  start  the  ball  rolling,"  came  the  surprising 
reply  from  "Missouri,"  as  he  had  been  considered  rather 
"close-fisted." 

"We  thank  you,  John,"  was  Manning's  reply.  "That's  the 
kind  of  men  we  want  in  our  new  corporation." 

"And  now,  Winters,  what  part  of  it  will  satisfy  you?"  he 
continued. 

"Figuring  upon  the  basis  of  the  children  who  found  it,  I 
should  say  that  two-thirds  of  what  is  left  belongs  to  your 
children,  or  to  .you,  and  Myrtle  will  be  satisfied  with  the  re 
maining  third,  if  that  is  agreeable  to  you." 

"That  is  satisfactory  to  us.  It  is  even  more  than  we 
thought  we  would  take,  for  we  had  it  figured  upon  a  sort 
of  half  basis,"  said  Manning. 

"I  couldn't  think  of  that,  Henry,  and  I  am  willing  to  pay 
you  an  extra  five  hundred  dollars  for  saving  the  gold  for  us. 
We  wouldn't  have  had  any  left  at  all  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
your  thoughtfulness." 

"As  Captain  of  this  train,  I  was  only  doing  my  duty,  and 
do  not  ask  any  pay  for  that  service,"  he  answered,  not  wish 
ing  to  appear  covetous. 

"Very  well,  then,"  replied  the  lawyer,  "I  will  put  the  five 
hundred  in  the  new  company  to  match  that  put  in  by  Sprouls." 

"And  I  will  put  in  a  like  amount,"  quickly  replied  Man- 


152 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

ning.  "Now  I  think  we  had  better  sack  up  this  gold  and  take 
it  to  the  bank  to  have  it  weighed.  Then  we  can  send  it  to 
the  United  States  Mint  at  San  Francisco  and  get  our  money 
out  of  it,"  and  this  plan  was  acted  upon  immediately. 

"What  does  it  weigh,  sir?"  asked  Manning  of  the  cashier 
at  the  First  National  Bank.  "I  mean,  what  is  it  worth?" 

"It  weighs  just  three  thousand,  five  hundred  and  fourteen 
and  one-half  ounces.  It  is  worth  about  eighteen  dollars  an 
ounce,  which  brings  it  to  sixty-three  thousand,  two  hundred 
and  sixty-one  dollars,  but  we  can't  credit  your  account  with 
that  much  until  we  get  the  returns  from  the  mint." 

The  men  looked  at  one  another  in  astonishment,  for  they 
had  never  dreamed  of  it  being  worth  half  that  value.  The 
banker  noticed  that  they  were  acting  strangely,  and  thinking 
they  were  disappointed  because  it  was  not  more,  he  said: 

"I  will  credit  your  account  up  with  fifty  thousand  dollars 
today,  and  it  may  go  a  little  over  my  estimate  when  the  re 
turns  come  back,  but  I  must  play  on  the  safe  side,  or  we 
would  soon  have  to  go  out  of  business." 

"That's  all  right,  sir,"  put  in  Winters.  "We  don't  need 
all  the  money  just  now  anyway,  but  we  would  like  to  draw 
enough  for  living  expenses,"  and  they  laughed  together. 

"You  can  have  any  amount  up  to  fifty  thousand  right 
now,"  said  the  banker,  "but  I  would  advise  you  to  leave  most 
of  it  here  in  the  bank,  for  it  is  not  safe  to  have  money  in 
one's  possession  in  this  country.  If  it  became  known,  some 
one  would  lay  for  you,  and  not  only  would  you  lose  your 
fortune,  but  you  would  do  well  to  save  your  lives.  It  is  safe 
here,  and  you  can  get  it  any  time  you  want  it." 

"Thank  you,  we'll  see  you  later  then.  Just  give  us  a  receipt 
for  the  gold  and  we'll  come  back  after  a  while  and  arrange 
the  settlement,"  said  Manning,  who  agreed  to  this  plan,  and 
he  turned  around  to  see  if  it  met  with  the  lawyer's  consent, 
also,  but  Winters  was  more  cautious  and  businesslike,  and  he 
did  not  think  that  the  best  method,  so  he  said : 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 153 

"Just  a  minute,  Mr.  Cashier,"  at  the  same  time  shaking 
his  head  at  the  other.  "Business  is  business,  Henry.  We  can 
easily  fix  this  right  now,  and  besides  suppose  something  should 
happen  to  one  of  us,  who  would  know  how  it  is  to  be  fixed? 
Then  I  am  out  of  money  and  need  some  right  now." 

"All  right,  Jack.  I  never  thought  of  that.  We'll  just  fix 
it  up  now,"  replied  Manning.  "Please,  sir,"  to  the  cashier, 
"make  out  a  certificate  of  deposit  for  one  thousand  dollars 
in  the  name  of  John  Sprouls,  and  give  it  to  him,"  introducing 
Sprouls.  "Now  place  one-third  of  the  forty-nine  thousand 
to  the  credit  of  Jack  Winters  here,  who  will  handle  his  ac 
count  as  he  sees  fit,  and  give  me  a  certificate  of  deposit  for 
the  rest.  You  understand,  when  the  returns  come  back,  one 
third  of  it  goes  to  the  account  of  Mr.  Winters  here,  and  the 
rest  to  me."  Turning  to  Winters,  he  asked,  "Is  that  all  right, 
Jack?" 

"Perfectly  satisfactory  to  me,"  replied  Winters. 

"How  will  you  have  yours,  Mr.  Winters?"  asked  the 
cashier." 

"Give  me  one  hundred  dollars  in  bills,  and  a  draft  for 
the  rest." 

"Oh,  I  see  you  are  from  the  East,  and  I  presume  this 
draft  will  go  back  there,"  smiled  the  cashier,  as  he  wrote 
out  the  draft  and  turned  it  over  to  the  president  to  sign.  Then 
he  handed  out  the  certificate  of  deposit  to  the  men,  who  turned 
to  go. 

"Just  a  minute,  Henry,"  said  the  lawyer.  "It  is  necessary 
to  get  a  receipt  for  this  bullion,  or  we  will  have  nothing  to 
show  for  the  rest  of  it." 

"That's  right.  I  don't  know  what  would  become  of  us 
if  we  didn't  have  a  lawyer  along  to  look  after  our  business," 
replied  Manning,  with  a  smile. 

The  cashier  then  wrote  out  a  receipt  for  the  bullion  and 
credited  the  fifty  thousand  dollars  paid  thereon.  The  men  took 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


their  papers  and  started  to  the  door,  when  the  cashier,  who 
had  been  eying  them  closely  all  the  time  to  see  if  there  was 
anything  suspicious  in  their  words  or  actions,  spoke  a  few  words 
to  the  president  of  the  bank,  then  called  to  them: 

"Just  a  minute,  men,"  and  the  three  turned  around  to  see 
what  was  wanted.  "Would  you  mind  telling  us  where  this 
gold  is  from?" 

"Certainly  not,"  replied  the  attorney,  "but  why  do  you  wish 
to  know?" 

"It  is  not  necessary,  but  our  curiosity  is  aroused,  as  you 
brought  in  such  a  fine  bunch  and  seem  to  be  amateurs  at  the 
business.  We  wondered  where  you  got  it  and  how  you  man 
aged  to  get  out  of  the  hills  with  so  much  without  being 
robbed." 

At  the  word  "robbed,"  the  men  laughed. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  the  banker,  unable  to  fathom 
the  joke. 

"Nothing  at  all,"  replied  the  lawyer,  "but  the  remark  about 
being  robbed  made  us  laugh." 

"Why  they  do  that  kind  of  business  out  in  this  country 
quite  often,"  replied  the  banker,  for  he  thought  the  men  did 
not  believe  him. 

"Yes,  we  know  that  to  our  sorrow,"  replied  Winters, 
ruefully.  "We  were  only  robbed  twice  on  our  way  out  of 
the  mountains,  so  we  know  what  you  are  talking  about  from 
actual  experience.  It's  no  joke,  either." 

"Robbed  twice,  and  got  out  with  this  much  of  the  gold?" 
unbelievingly. 

"Yes,  sir,  that's  just  what  I  said,"  was  the  quick  reply. 

"How  did  you  save  it?" 

"The  bandits  couldn't  find  it.  We  fooled  them  good," 
replied  the  Captain. 

"Well,  I  must  take  off  my  hat  to  you  fellows,  if  you  fooled 
any  bandits  in  this  country,"  replied  the  banker,  wondering 
how  they  did  it. 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 155 

"Well,  we're  here  with  the  goods,  aren't  we?"  asked  Man 
ning. 

"Yes,  you're  here  all  right,"  continued  the  banker  curious 
ly,  "and  that's  what  I  wanted  to  know  about  This  bullion 
looks  pretty  good  to  me.  It  is  quite  coarse  and  free  from  the 
fine  dust  which  is  usually  with  it.  I  was  just  wondering 
where  it  came  from." 

"It  came  from  our  claim  at  Gold  Run,"  replied  Manning, 
proudly. 

"You  are  not  the  men  who  made  that  rich  find  up  there 
about  a  week  ago,  are  you?"  asked  the  banker  in  surprise. 

"What  do  you  know  about  that  rich  find  up  there  at  Gold 
Run  ?"  asked  Manning,  curiously. 

"Know  about  it?  Why,  everybody  here  knows  about  it. 
The  stage  driver  brought  the  report  in  several  days  ago,  and 
I  suppose  there  are  a  hundred  men  getting  ready  to  go  up 
there,  if  many  of  them  aren't  on  their  way  now.  Did  you 
meet  any  men  going  in  that  direction  when  you  came  down? 
When  did  you  get  here?"  queried  the  banker,  to  which  the 
Captain  replied : 

"We  came  in  this  morning  about  eleven  o'clock,  and,  come 
to  think  of  it,  we  did  meet  a  number  of  men  on  the  road  yes 
terday,  going  in  that  direction,  but  no  one  said  anything  to 
us  or  made  any  inquiries." 

"You  must  have  something  pretty  good  up  there,"  contin 
ued  the  banker,  to  draw  them  out,  and  cashing  checks  for 
several  customers  waiting  at  the  counter. 

"We  have,  and  here  is  the  evidence  of  it,"  replied  the 
lawyer,  with  a  gesture  towards  the  gold  and  an  air  of  satis 
faction.  He  was  keeping  an  eye  out  for  business. 

"Is  there  any  chance  for  a  man  to  get  in  on  it?"  asked 
the  banker. 

"That  is  just  possible.  I  can't  say  for  certain,  as  all  our 
party  want  in  on  it  and  we  are  down  here  to  incorporate  it 


156 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

into  a  company.  We  will  see  if  there  is  a  chance  for  you,  but 
it  kind  o'  looks  as  though  we  have  about  all  we  can  accom 
modate,"  not  wanting  to  appear  too  anxious. 

"If  the  thing  is  on  the  square,"  continued  the  banker,  now 
much  interested,  "you  can  put  me  down  for  at  least  one  thou 
sand  dollars,  and,  if  you  can  let  me  have  that  much,  I  might 
go  as  high  as  ten  thousand."  The  men  looked  at  each  other 
in  surprise,  not  knowing  what  to  say,  until  Winters  replied: 

"We  will  talk  it  over,  and  if  we  decide  that  there  are  any 
more  shares  to  spare,  we  will  give  you  the  first  chance  to  get 
in  on  it." 

"Have  you  incorporated  yet?"  asked  the  banker,  anxiously. 

"Yes,  sir.  That  is,  I  have  my  articles  of  incorporation 
drawn  and  signed,  and  I  am  just  going  to  the  State  House 
to  file  them  and  get  the  charter." 

"Could  I  see  them?"  inquired  the  banker,  and  Winters 
took  the  papers  from  his  pocket  and  handed  them  to  him. 
After  he  had  gone  carefully  through  them  he  said,  "The 
Golden  West  Mining  Company.  I  like  that  name.  May  I 
ask  who  drew  up  these  articles?" 

"Mr.  Winters  did,"  said  Manning,  quickly,  "and  he  was 
one  of  the  best  lawyers  in  old  Missouri.  Warsaw  was  mighty 
proud  of  him,  and  lost  a  good  man  when  he  got  the  gold 
fever." 

"There,  that  will  do,"  said  Jack,  with  a  shake  of  the  head. 

"His  work  speaks  for  itself,"  said  the  banker.  "I  am  satis 
fied,  and  I  will  start  the  new  bank  account  for  the  company 
with  one  thousand  dollars,  if  you  say  so." 

"Well,  we  will  have  to  open  an  account  somewhere,"  said 
Manning,  "and  this  man,  being  so  well  acquainted  here,  may 
be  of  some  service  to  us.  What  do  you  say  about  it,  boys?" 

"That  is  not  the  question,  Henry,"  replied  Winters.  "We 
have  promised  so  many  of  our  friends  in  the  East  the  first 
chance,  and  then  so  many  here  want  to  come  in,  that  I  don't 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 157 

know  whether  we  will  have  room  for  him  or  not,"  he  con 
cluded,  with  an  air  of  independence. 

"I  will  start  it  with  five  thousand,  then,"  said  the  banker, 
"and  I  will  put  in  that  much  more  as  soon  as  I  can  hear  from 
Marshal  Bass.  I  know  him  well,  and  I  see  he  is  one  of  your 
directors." 

"I  wonder  if  this  is  the  man  that  Mr.  Bass  told  us  to 
see,"  said  Manning  to  Jack  Winters.  "Bass  said  to  be  sure 
and  let  him  in  as  an  accommodation  to  him.  What  is  your 
name,  please?"  he  continued,  turning'  to  the  banker. 

"R.  H.  Kramer,  and  I  am  from  Kansas  City,  where  I  knew 
Marshal  Bass.  He  is  one  of  my  best  friends,  and  he  prom 
ised  to  get  me  in  on  something  good  up  there,  for  he  says 
there  are  lots  of  chances  in  that  section." 

"Kramer.  Yes,  that  is  the  man,"  said  Winters,  taking 
out  his  notebook  and  turning  through  the  pages.  "Here  it 
is.  Mr.  Bass  had  me  mark  down  ten  thousand  dollars  to  your 
option,  for  he  said  you  would  invest  that  much  if  it  was  some 
thing  good." 

"That's  fine,"  said  Kramer.  "Bass  never  forgot  me  after 
all.  I  will  open  the  new  account  with  that  sum  at  once  then." 
"I  will  pay  in  my  five  hundred  now,"  said  Sprouls,  who  had 
listened  closely  to  all  this  conversation,  and  was  getting  very 
enthusiastic.  Each  of  the  men  then  deposited  five  hundred 
apiece  to  the  company's  account,  and  the  bank  book  was 
handed  to  Henry  Manning  as  Treasurer  of  the  company. 

"Bring  the  charter  down  when  you  get  it,  so  that  I  can 
see  it,"  said  Kramer.  "I  will  try  to  find  a  suitable  office  for 
the  company,  and  may  be  of  some  help  to  you  in  getting  things 
down  to  a  business  basis." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Kramer,"  said  Manning,  greatly  pleased 
at  their  good  luck. 

"By  the  way,"  continued  Kramer,  "you  started  to  tell  me 
about  those  holdups,  and  how  you  saved  the  gold,  but  you 


158 WINNING  A  FORTUNE  

didn't  finish  it.  This  is  getting  quite  interesting  to  me,  and 
I  wish  you  would  tell  me  how  it  happened." 

Then  Captain  Manning  related: 

"Well,  you  see  these  men  were  not  regular  highwaymen, 
or  I  presume  the  thing  might  have  been  different,  but  they 
played  their  part  well  as  it  was." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  asked  Kramer,  as  it  was  a 
new  one  to  him. 

"It  was  some  of  the  men  from  the  other  mines  who  tried 
to  get  it,"  continued  Manning.  "It  seems  that  they  were  jeal 
ous  of  us  because  we  were  new  comers,  and  we  found  the  gold 
after  being  there  only  a  few  days,  while  they  had  walked  right 
over  it  for  months.  They  tried  to  beat  us  out  of  it,  but  when 
they  could  not  do  that,  they  tried  to  rob  us  after  we  had  started 
to  Sacramento,  on  the  pretext  that  it  was  stolen  gold." 

"Go  on,  this  is  an  interesting  story,"  said  Kramer  to  Man 
ning  as  he  stopped,  for  he  was  doing  most  of  the  talking.  The 
lawyer  was  watching  him  closely  to  see  that  he  did  not  say 
anything  to  the  banker  that  should  not  have  been  said.  Man 
ning  continued  much  to  the  delight  of  the  banker : 

"We  had  just  arrived  from  the  East,  and  as  Marshal  Bass 
was  from  our  part  of  the  country,  he  became  our  fast  friend. 
We  stopped  at  Dutch  Flat,  and  after  a  few  days  Mr.  Sprouls 
and  I  went  over  to  the  company  property  to  learn  what  we 
could  about  mining,  for  it  was  all  new  to  us  and  we  could 
scarcely  have  recognized  gold  if  we  had  seen  it. 

"Engineer  Brooks  needed  someone  to  help  him  in  measur 
ing  some  ground,  and  asked  us  if  we  would  assist.  We  said 
we  would,  and  were  helping  him  chain,  when  General  Manager 
Harding  came  to  the  mine  with  his  guards,  to  start  the  clean 
up."  As  Manning  mentioned  the  name  of  Harding,  the  old 
President  of  the  bank,  who  was  busy  at  his  desk,  straightened 
up  and  turned  around  so  as  to  hear  better  what  was  being  said. 

"Presently  my  children  came  hunting  me,  and  to  find  out 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 159 

why  I  did  not  go  home  to  dinner,"  Manning  went  on  with  the 
story.  "I  saw  that  they  had  some  strange  looking  chunks  of 
yellow  metal  in  their  hands,  and  when  I  showed  it  to  the  engi 
neer,  he  said  it  was  gold.  We  then  asked  the  children  where 
they  got  it,  and  they  said  at  Gold  Run,  where  they  had  been 
playing  and  amusing  themselves  by  picking  up  pretty  stones. 

"Well,  that  engineer  tried  to  get  the  children  to  tell  him 
just  what  particular  spot  they  had  found  the  gold,  but  I 
wouldn't  allow  them  to  do  so.  I  thought  they  might  have 
found  something  good,  and  was  afraid  some  one  would  beat 
us  to  it  if  they  told.  Just  then  the  Manager  called  to  the  engi 
neer  and  told  him  to  send  us  down  to  help  with  the  cleanup, 
thinking  we  were  regular  employes.  We  were  about  to  refuse, 
for  we  didn't  understand  the  work,  but  the  engineer  insisted 
on  our  going,  and  asked  to  have  one  of  my  boys  stay  and  help 
him  finish  the  survey.  I  put  the  samples  of  gold  in  my  coat 
pocket,  and  told  the  children  to  go  to  camp  and  say  nothing 
about  it  to  any  one.  Brooks,  the  engineer,  tried  to  compel  my 
son,  who  was  helping  him,  to  tell  where  it  came  from,  but  the 
boy  would  not  do  it,  so  he  threatened  him  and  sent  him  home. 

"Then  Brooks  spoke  to  the  Manager,  and  taking  his  horse, 
rode  down  to  Gold  Run  and  tried  to  find  the  claims  while  we 
were  busy  working,  but  failed  to  find  them.  He  went  to  my 
tent,  and  tried  to  make  my  wife  and  children  tell  by  threaten 
ing  them  with  arrest  for  stealing  the  gold.  But  my  son,  Lew, 
pulled  a  gun  on  him  and  ordered  him  away. 

"Then  to  get  even  with  us  for  not  telling,  he  told  the  Gen 
eral  Manager  he  had  seen  us  high-grading;  that  he  had  seen 
us  putting  the  gold  into  our  pockets,  when  the  fact  was,  we  had 
not  touched  the  sluices  yet,  having  been  there  only  two  hours. 
The  gold  samples  were  in  my  coat  pocket,  hanging  in  a  tree 
nearby,  and  when  the  engineer  ordered  us  searched  and  found 
nothing,  he  remembered  he  had  seen  me  put  the  gold  into  my 
coat  pocket.  When  they  found  it  there,  they  threw  us  both  in 
jail." 


160 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

At  this  point  the  President  of  the  bank  got  up  and  moved 
closer  to  the  men.  The  cashier  looked  at  him  with  a  smile, 
but  Manning  went  on  with  his  story. 

"The  guard,  Abe  Smith,  told  the  Manager  that  we  were 
innocent,  that  he  had  been  with  us  all  the  time  and  we  had 
had  no  chance  to  get  at  the  gold,  but  he  would  not  listen,  and 
seemed  to  be  standing  in  with  the  engineer. 

"Marshal  Bass  was  told  of  the  situation,  and  he  brought 
the  location  papers  to  the  jail  for  my  signature,  and  took 
Smith  with  him,  together  with  my  wife  and  boys,  and  they 
staked  the  claims  in  my  name  that  night.  Our  wagons  and 
tents  were  moved  onto  the  new  property  while  I  was  in  jail 
with  Sprouls,  and  guards  were  put  out  until  Mr.  Winters  re 
turned  from  North  Bloomfield  and  got  us  out  of  jail. 

"Mr.  Harding  had  been  complaining  for  some  time  that 
some  one  was  stealing  the  gold  from  the  cleanup,  so  Marshal 
Bass  was  set  to  catch  him,  and  the  very  first  night  Bass 
caught  that  engineer  Brooks  red-handed,  stealing  the  gold. 
When  his  hiding  place  was  searched  they  found  about  fifty 
thousand  dollars  in  gold  hid  away  in  a  powder  can,  together 
with  our  gold  nuggets.  So  he  took  our  place  in  jail  when  we 
were  released. 

"Mr.  Harding  and  the  engineer  were  fast  friends,  and 
Harding  was  very  much  put  out  when  Brooks  was  caught. 
He  tried  to  turn  him  loose,  but  he  had  already  offered  a  re 
ward  of  a  tenth  of  the  swag  for  the  capture  of  the  thief.  He 
tried  to  get  out  of  it  when  he  saw  how  much  gold  was  cap 
tured,  for  Brooks  had  been  stealing  it  ever  since  he  came 
there. 

"Well,  we  went  down  to  our  claims,  and  the  very  first  day 
we  cleaned  up  all  of  this  gold,  sacked  it,  and  upon  the  advice 
of  Marshal  Bass,  decided  to  get  out  of  there  with  it.  We 
never  washed  or  panned  any  of  the  gold  at  all,  but  just  picked 
this  out  with  our  hands.  None  of  us  knew  how  to  pan  gold, 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 161 

so  you  see  we  left  all  of  the  fine  gold  there.  Then  we  covered 
up  the  place  where  we  found  it  with  sand,  and  left  Marshal 
Bass  in  charge. 

"But  before  we  could  leave,  we  had  to  get  Mr.  Harding  to 
dismiss  the  charges  against  us,  and  he  was  afraid  we  might 
bring  a  damage  suit  against  the  company  for  false  imprison 
ment,  so  he  gave  us  one  hundred  dollars  apiece  to  settle  it. 
He  wanted  to  keep  the  nuggets,  which  were  worth  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  but  when  I  insisted  upon  having 
them  back  he  offered  to  buy  them,  and  I  sold  them  for  one 
hundred  dollars.  It  seemed  to  make  him  mad  because  I  took 
the  money,  and  he  went  off  in  a  huff.  He  decided  to  get  even 
by  taking  the  money  away  from  us  on  the  way,  so  after  we  had 
started,  he  sent  two  of  his  guards  down  to  the  lower  mine 
ahead  of  us  with  orders  to  the  four  guards  there  to  hold  us 
up  along  the  road  on  the  pretext  that  we  had  robbed  the 
cleanup  at  Dutch  Flat. 

"Well,  they  held  us  up  all  right,  but  when  they  found 
nothing  they  let  us  go  on.  Marshal  Bass,  having  heard  of  the 
plot  against  us,  rode  to  overtake  us,  and  to  help  us  defend 
ourselves  and  our  treasure.  He  was  the  only  man  besides  our 
selves  who  knew  we  had  made  anything  from  the  Gold  Run 
claims.  Harding  just  suspicioned  it,  so  that  was  one  reason 
he  had  us  held  up.  Well,  Bass  did  not  get  there  until  after 
we  had  been  searched.  The  robbers  had  taken  two  of  our 
horses  and  rode  off,  but  when  they  saw  Bass  coming,  they 
abandoned  the  horses  and  took  to  the  brush.  The  Marshal 
caught  the  horses,  and  brought  them  to  us.  We  watched  the 
four  robbers,  and  saw  them  meet  with  the  two  from  Dutch 
Flat  and  talk  a  while,  then  the  latter  struck  off  towards  the 
Flat  as  fast  as  they  could  go. 

"The  Marshal  said  the  thing  looked  bad,  and  that  it  was 
not  over  yet,  so  he  decided  to  stay  with  us  that  night.  We 
were  not  disturbed  during  the  night,  so  the  Marshal  took  his 


162 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

leave  in  the  morning  and  we  continued  on  our  way,  but  we  en 
countered  those  same  men  again,  accompanied  by  the  two  from 
the  Flat,  not  two  miles  down  the  road.  They  lined  us  up  and 
searched  everything  high  and  low  again,  but  found  neither 
money  nor  bullion,  and  I  believe  they  would  have  killed  us  had 
it  not  been  for  Abe  Smith.  He  had  overheard  the  new  plot 
the  night  before  and  was  coming  to  warn  us  when  he  met 
Marshal  Bass  returning  to  Dutch  Flat,  so  they  both  came  on 
together,  arriving  just  as  the  men  were  going  through  our 
wagons.  It  was  lucky  they  did  get  there,  too,  for  the  men  had 
threatened  to  kill  us  if  we  did  not  tell  where  the  gold  was. 

"Bass  and  Smith  demanded  an  explanation,  and  while  they 
were  talking  to  them,  several  of  us  secured  our  guns  and  in  a 
moment  we  had  them  covered  and  disarmed.  They  then  told 
us  they  were  sent  there  by  Robert  Harding,  with  orders  to 
get  the  gold  or  kill  the  whole  bunch  of  us.  He  had  told  them 
we  had  robbed  the  cleanup,  but  of  course  both  Bass  and  Smith 
knew  better. 

"I  don't  know  how  Smith  and  Bass  will  make  it  with  those 
crooks,  but  the  company  that  is  keeping  such  men  as  Harding 
and  Brooks  in  their  employ  can't  expect  much  return  from  the 
mine,  for  I  am  convinced  they  are  stealing  the  gold  and  trying 
to  lay  the  blame  on  others.  I  wouldn't  be  surprised,  if  they 
ever  do  get  Harding,  but  that  they  will  catch  him  with  more 
swag  than  they  caught  on  Brooks. 

"I  don't  know  who  the  company  is  that  owns  that  mine, 
but  whoever  they  are,  they  ought  to  know  what  is  going  on 
up  there.  Now  that  we  are  out  of  there,  I  don't  know  that  I 
ought  to  bother  any  more  about  it,  but  you  know  it  is  just 
human  nature  that  we  want  to  see  them  punished  for  their 
treatment  of  us."  Manning  seemed  greatly  pleased  that  he 
had  had  a  chance  to  relate  the  story  for  the  first  time.  Just 
then  some  one  spoke : 

"Come  here,  gentlemen,"  called  out  the  old  bank  President. 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 163 

"My  name  is  George  Garner,  and  I  am  the  President  of  that 
company  operating  at  Dutch  Flat.  I  want  to  know  if  you 
men  can  corroborate  this  story  just  told  by  Mr.  Manning?" 

"Yes,  sir,  we  can,"  was  the  reply  of  both  Winters  and 
Sprouls  at  once. 

"I  am  grateful  for  the  information.  I  have  had  my 
stenographer  take  down  the  whole  story,  and  I  shall  want  you 
men  for  witnesses.  If  you  are  telling  me  the  truth,  I  will 
take  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stock  in  your  mining  com 
pany  myself,  and  get  you  all  the  money  you  want  right  here. 
Both  Harding  and  Brooks  are  in  my  employ,  but  I  can  tell 
you  right  now  that  they  won't  be  any  longer  than  it  will  take 
me  to  send  men  up  there  to  take  their  places."  Manning  was 
visibly  worried,  and  quickly  said : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Garner.  I  did  not  know  you  were 
the  President  or  in  any  way  connected  with  the  company,  or  I 
wouldn't  have  said  anything  about  it.  I  wouldn't  have  said 
anything  at  all  but  for  the  insistence  of  Mr.  Kramer." 

"He  did  that  upon  my  request,"  continued  the  President. 
"I  saw  at  once  that  you  were  fresh  from  the  scene  of  our 
workings,  and  as  soon  as  I  saw  the  gold  it  struck  me  that  you 
men  might  be  the  thieves  who  had  been  stealing  our  gold. 
When  I  examined  the  gold,  though,  I  saw  there  was  no  quick 
silver  on  it  and  no  fine  dust,  so  I  knew  it  never  came  from 
our  works.  Also  when  I  saw  that  you  were  tenderfeet,  I 
knew  I  could  rely  on  you  for  facts.  I  shall  send  a  man  at 
once  to  take  the  place  of  Harding,  and  also  a  detective  to  trace 
down  the  gold  he  has  in  hiding.  I  shall  send  them  to  Marshal 
Bass  first,  and  if  Harding  has  done  as  you  say,  and  Brooks  is 
in  jail,  you  have  a  friend  in  me,  and  I  can  finance  your  whole 
mine  with  what  I  shall  save  in  two  or  three  cleanups." 

"The  information  is  reliable,"  said  the  lawyer,  "and  you 
can  make  your  arrangements  accordingly.  I  don't  think  we 
would  have  told  you  if  we  had  known  beforehand  that  you 

11 


164 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

were  connected  with  the  company,  for  we  are  here  for  busi 
ness  and  don't  want  to  antagonize  anyone." 

"It  will  antagonize  no  one  but  the  crooks,  and  we  will  take 
care  of  them.  You  will  fare  a  lot  better  by  your  having  given 
it  in  the  way  you  did  than  if  you  had  said  nothing.  You  are 
strangers  to  me,  but  I  believe  your  story.  Mr.  Manning,  let 
me  see  that  bank  book  of  your  new  company,"  holding  out 
his  hand  for  it. 

"Here,  Kramer,  place  to  the  credit  of  the  Golden  West 
Mining  Company  ten  thousand  dollars  more  and  charge  it  up 
to  my  account,  but  make  it  subject  to  my  investigation  of  these 
facts,  and  the  truth  of  these  statements  before  the  cash  is 
available,"  he  said,  after  looking  the  book  over  carefully. 

"I  don't  know  whether  we  can  let  you  in  on  it  or  not,  Mr. 
Garner,"  said  Winters,  with  some  hesitancy. 

"Well,  if  this  information  you  have  given  me  is  true,  it  is 
worth  that  much  to  me  and  the  company  anyhow,  and  you  will 
not  refuse  the  money." 

"All  right,  then,  Mr.  Garner.  We  will  make  room  for  you 
in  the  company,  and  we  will  try  and  arrange  to  have  one  of 
you  men  on  the  board  of  directors  before  we  begin  opera 
tions  up  there.  We  left  a  lot  of  the  details  to  Marshal  Bass, 
as  he  is  so  well  known  up  there.  He  said  he  was  only  taking 
the  place  until  he  could  get  some  of  his  friends  here  in  the  city 
interested.  All  he  wanted  was  to  be  superintendent  of  the 
work." 

"If  Marshal  Bass  is  to  be  superintendent  of  the  work  on 
your  property,  I  am  satisfied  right  now.  We  have  known 
him  ever  since  he  has  been  out  West,  and  have  never  known  a 
truer,  more  substantial,  or  trustworthy  man  than  he  is." 

"Well,  we  are  delaying  you  and  taking  up  a  lot  of  your 
time,"  said  Kramer,  "and  there  are  a  lot  of  people  lined  up 
here  to  see  me,  too.  You  go  and  get  your  charter  and  we 
will  find  the  office  for  you." 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 165 

As  the  three  men  walked  in  the  direction  of  the  State 
House  with  their  articles  of  incorporation,  they  were  three  of 
the  happiest  men  in  the  city.  It  was  more  than  luck.  Things 
were  coming  their  way  fast,  and  Manning  and  Winters  counted 
themselves  rich,  and  almost  half  of  the  necessary  money  was 
raised  already  to  finance  their  mine,  with  plenty  more  in  sight. 

"They  will  certainly  be  surprised  at  the  Flat,"  said  Winters, 
with  a  laugh,  "when  they  see  the  company  taking  things  into 
their  own  hands  and  putting  a  new  set  of  men  on  up  there." 

"It  serves  Harding  right,"  said  Manning.  "I  hope  they 
get  him,  too.  I  knew  he  was  a  crook  from  the  first,  almost. 
He  would  never  have  treated  us  as  he  did  and  stood  for  Brooks 
when  he  knew  him  to  be  guilty  if  he  was  square." 

Soon  they  reached  the  State  House,  and  the  articles  of 
incorporation  were  filed  with  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the 
charter  secured.  Then  the  men  went  back  to  their  home,  and 
saw  to  it  that  all  the  crowd  who  had  come  with  them  were 
provided  with  comfortable  houses.  Manning  and  Winters 
stood  for  the  house  rent,  and  the  necessary  living  supplies 
were  ordered  and  paid  for  by  them  also. 

After  a  few  days'  rest  for  the  men  and  teams,  and  as  some 
of  them  wanted  to  be  back  at  work  again,  they  found  employ 
ment  at  good  wages  on  the  grading  of  the  new  railroad, 
which  was  being  built  from  San  Francisco  to  the  East. 

In  the  meantime,  an  office  had  been  found  for  the  Golden 
West  Mining  Company  in  a  bank  building  on  J  Street,  one 
of  the  principal  streets  of  the  city.  The  necessary  furniture 
had  been  procured  and  placed  in  the  office,  and  the  keys  turned 
over  to  Jack  Winters,  the  president  of  the  new  corporation. 

In  a  day  or  two,  the  returns  came  from  the  mint,  and  they 
found  that  their  bullion  had  made  them  eight  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars  more  than  the  bankers  had  figured.  By  this  time 
the  printed  matter  for  the  new  company  was  out,  which  de 
scribed  the  mine  and  its  location,  and  gave  a  picture  of  the 


166 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

pile  of  gold  with  the  three  children  around  it.  It  outlined  the 
work  that  was  necessary  to  develop  the  water  right  and  to 
build  the  pipe-line  and  drain  tunnel,  etc.,  for  use  in  active 
mining  upon  the  hydraulic  plan,  as  it  was  the  method  in  vogue 
in  that  section  of  the  country.  It  also  gave  the  estimated  cost 
of  the  work  and  the  amount  of  money  already  subscribed,  to 
gether  with  the  balance  needed  to  complete  the  work.  It  told 
of  the  sixty-four  thousand  dollars  that  had  been  taken  out  in 
one  day,  and  what  the  possibilities  were  for  a  million  dollars 
more,  etc.  It  stated  that  the  work  would  be  tied  up  until 
spring  on  account  of  the  winter  weather,  but  would  then  go 
on  with  a  rush,  and  that  all  who  were  to  get  in  on  it  would 
have  to  do  so  at  once,  as  this  was  simply  an  offer,  to  accom 
modate  old  friends  at  home  with  a  chance  to  get  in  on  the 
ground  floor.  It  also  stated  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  act 
quickly  so  as  to  recover  the  gold  before  adverse  legislation 
prevented  it. 

It  was  impressed  on  them  that  the  money  must  be  there  by 
spring,  when  the  work  would  begin  again,  and  that  everything 
must  be  gotten  in  readiness  through  the  winter. 

These  circulars  were  printed  for  the  Eastern  friends  in 
Missouri,  and  had  scarcely  been  placed  in  the  mail,  when  one 
morning,  as  Jack  Winters  entered  the  company's  office,  he 
found  Kramer  and  Garner  waiting  for  him.  They  had  taken 
advantage  of  the  time  before  banking  hours  to  visit  the  com 
pany. 

"We  have  been  waiting  for  you  some  time,"  said  Garner, 
impatiently.  "You  seem  a  little  slow  in  getting  around  to  at 
tend  to  the  business  of  a  big  concern  like  this." 

"Yes,  I  am,  but  I  hope  that  it  will  not  hinder  the  progress  of 
the  work  any.  Is  anything  wrong,  gentlemen?"  he  said, 
wondering  what  was  up. 

"Not  exactly,  but  we  wanted  to  see  you  on  business  relat 
ing  to  the  Gold  Run  Mine,"  said  Garner,  wanting  to  get  down 
to  business  at  once. 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 167 

"Well,  what  has  happened  there?  I  am  anxious  to  know," 
replied  the  lawyer. 

"We  have  just  heard  from  Dutch  Flat.  Our  men  went  up 
there  and  found  everything  that  you  have  told  us  to  be  true. 
In  fact,  Marshal  Bass  had  enough  evidence  against  Harding 
to  convict  him,  so  when  our  detective  got  there,  it  was  only  a 
matter  of  putting  his  plans  in  operation,  and  they  caught 
Harding  with  the  goods.  He  had  a  large  amount  of  bullion 
in  his  possession  which  he  was  trying  to  get  away  with.  Both 
the  detective  and  Marshal  Bass  will  come  in  here  on  the  stage 
tomorrow,  bringing  the  two  prisoners,  Brooks  and  Harding. 

"They  have  also  carefully  examined  your  mining  property, 
and  we  have  decided  that  we  want  to  buy  it  outright,  so  I  am 
here  to  offer  you  a  good  liberal  sum  for  the  property.  Are 
you  ready  to  talk  business  ?" 

"We  have  never  thought  of  selling  it,  Mr.  Garner.  We 
consider  it  too  good  a  proposition  to  let  go,  and  didn't  expect 
to  do  anything  but  work  it." 

"I  know  that,  but  our  company  is  able  to  finance  it,  and  we 
know  that  you  men  are  all  inexperienced,  with  the  exception  of 
Mr.  Bass.  It  is  a  big  job  to  undertake  to  put  a  plant  into 
operation  like  that,  but  we  have  the  water  power  already  in 
operation  and  almost  to  the  property  now.  It  is  going  to  be 
difficult  for  you  to  get  water  to  your  property  without  us.  I 
am  convinced  of  the  merits  of  your  mine,  and  am  ready  to 
make  you  an  offer,  which  may  not  be  to  your  liking,  but  is  the 
best  we  can  do." 

"It  will  have  to  be  a  pretty  liberal  one  to  interest  us  at  all. 
What  kind  of  an  offer  can  you  make?"  asked  Winters  cau 
tiously. 

"Seventy-five  thousand  dollars,"  was  the  frank  reply,  for 
Garner  was  all  business,  and  never  talked  for  pastime. 

"I  don't  think  we  could  consider  it,  as  we  have  gone  too 
far  with  our  corporation  and  advertising  to  withdraw,"  said 
Winters,  yet  looking  for  a  chance  to  accept  the  offer. 


168 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Certainly  you  can.  You  can  turn  that  corporation  to 
another  property,  as  you  haven't  had  a  meeting  of  the  direc 
tors  yet  to  take  over  this  property,  and  the  advertising  will 
work  just  as  well  on  another  as  on  this.  These  properties  all 
look  alike  on  paper,  and  your  stock  hasn't  been  issued  yet." 

"Well,  I'll  go  and  see  Manning  about  it,  and  call  at  the 
bank  in  an  hour  and  let  you  know  what  he  says,"  replied 
Winters. 

"All  right,  I'll  look  for  you,  but  get  his  consent  if  you  can, 
for  this  is  a  bird  in  the  hand,  and  it's  far  better  than  two  in 
the  bush,  you  know,"  thinking  Winters  was  now  willing,  to 
which  Winters  replied : 

"I'll  see  him,  but  don't  be  too  sure  of  getting  it." 

"Well,  good  morning,  Winters,"  and  he  hurried  off  to  the 
bank,  as  it  was  time  for  business. 

"Good  morning,"  replied  the  lawyer,  "I'll  see  you  in  a  little 
while." 

Winters  sat  in  his  office  thinking  it  over  for  a  few  mo 
ments  before  he  made  a  move.  "Everything  is  coming  our 
way,"  he  said  to  himself,  but  remembering  that  he  was  to  be 
at  the  bank  in  an  hour  to  give  his  answer,  he  rushed  out  and 
happened  to  meet  Manning  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  office. 
He  quickly  told  him  of  the  offer  the  banker  had  made. 

"Don't  waste  any  time  about  it,"  said  Manning,  much 
pleased  with  the  offer.  "Get  the  money  and  get  it  quickly.  I 
have  just  heard  that  the  anti-debris  injunction  decision  is 
likely  to  be  upheld  in  the  Supreme  Court  in  that  Woodruff 
case  against  the  North  Bloomfield  people,  and  if  it  is,  we  can't 
work  the  property  if  we  keep  it,  for  it  will  affect  all  of  the 
mines  alike.  Get  back  to  the  bank  and  get  the  money  and  all 
of  it  as  quickly  as  you  can.  I  will  see  Jones  and  Sprouls  and 
fix  it  up  with  them.  I'll  be  at  the  company's  office  to  sign  the 
papers  before  noon,  so  you  get  them  all  drawn  and  ready. 
Don't  let  it  slip.  You  know  how  to  do  it." 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 169 

Jack  Winters  hurried  back  to  the  bank  to  see  Garner  at  the 
appointed  time.  He  found  the  President  and  the  board  of 
directors  present,  and  in  session,  considering  matters  pertain 
ing  to  the  company's  business  at  the  Flat.  They  were  all 
awaiting  the  reply  from  the  Golden  West  people,  and  when 
Garner  saw  Winters,  he  at  once  excused  himself  and  went 
out  to  see  what  their  decision  was. 

"What  did  Manning  say?"  he  inquired.  "Is  he  going  to 
let  us  have  the  property?" 

"None  of  them  wants  to  let  it  go,  Mr.  Garner,  and  especially 
at  that  price.  We  believe  we  can  go  back  there  and  take  that 
much  money  out  in  two  days'  time.  You  know  we  got  that 
sixty-four  thousand  out  in  one  day,  and  would  have  been  there 
mining  yet,  but  we  feared  for  our  lives." 

"I  know  it  is  a  small  price,  myself,"  said  the  banker,  "but 
we  fear  hydraulic  mining  is  going  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past 
before  many  months,  and  before  you  can  get  really  started  at 
mining.  With  our  equipment,  we  can  turn  our  water  in  there 
and  pipe  that  off  before  the  law  goes  into  effect,  according  to 
the  reports  we  have  on  it.  It  will  be  a  loss  to  you  to  keep  it, 
but  if  you  sell  it  you  will  be  making  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars." 

"There  is  only  one  thing  that  will  cause  us  to  consider  your 
proposition  at  all,"  said  the  'lawyer,  getting  ready  to  close  the 
deal. 

"What  is  that?"  Garner  asked  anxiously. 

"It  is  such  a  good  property,  that  we  consider  our  lives  still 
in  danger." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  asked  Garner,  considerably 
puzzled. 

"Well,  they  tried  to  steal  it  from  us,  tried  to  rob  us  for  it, 
put  us  in  jail  for  it,  and  threatened  our  lives  if  we  did  not  give 
it  up.  We  don't  know  whether  to  go  back  there  or  not.  Bass 
said  he  was  not  afraid,  so  we  left  him  in  charge,  and  he  is 


170  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

managing  the  property  alone.  I  believe,  however,  that  I  will 
make  you  a  proposition."  A  pleasant  look  came  to  the  old 
banker's  face  as  he  replied : 

"That's  it.  I  like  to  see  a  man  get  down  to  brass  tacks. 
State  it,  please." 

"Marshal  Bass  is  in  with  us.  If  we  accept  your  proposition 
you  will  have  to  take  care  of  him.  He  has  tendered  his  resig 
nation  as  Marshal  to  take  up  the  job  of  superintending  this 
work,  and  he  must  be  taken  care  of." 

"We'll  take  care  of  him.  The  fact  is,  he  is  on  his  way  here 
now  to  confer  with  this  board  about  taking  Harding's  place 
at  the  Flat  if  you  men  will  sell  and  release  him  of  his  promise 
to  you." 

"That  puts  a  different  light  upon  it.  We  will  accept  your 
offer  then,  with  one  understanding." 

"And  that  is?" 

"You  have  subscribed  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  Golden 
West  Mining  Company,  and  Mr.  Kramer  a  like  amount.  We 
want  you  to  let  that  money  remain  in  our  new  company  with 
this  condition,  that  it  be  available  for  use  only  when  the  com 
pany  takes  up  another  property  agreeable  to  us  both." 

"I  will  let  mine  stand  upon  that  condition,  but  Kramer  wants 
his  to  go  with  the  new  property  at  Gold  Run.  He  wants  his 
to  be  withdrawn." 

"All  right,  then,"  said  Winters  cautiously,  "have  your  direc 
tors  to  allow  the  bill  for  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  and 
bring  the  check  over  to  the  office.  Mr.  Manning  will  be  there 
as  soon  as  I  can  send  him  word,  to  sign  the  papers,  and  we  will 
have  the  deed  made  out  to  your  company.  The  claims  are  in 
his  name  and  mine." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  the  banker.  "You  can  have  the  check 
right  now.  We  don't  know  what  your  mind  might  be  in  an 
hour  or  two,  when  you  two  men  get  together  and  see  those 
nuggets  again  in  your  mind.  Business  is  business,  and  we 
will  close  it  while  you  are  in  the  notion." 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 171 

Turning  to  the  directors,  he  said,  "Gentlemen,  Mr.  Winters 
has  consented  to  our  proposition  to  buy  the  Gold  Run  claims 
for  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  on  condition  that  we  take 
care  of  Marshal  Bass,  as  he  was  promised  the  superintendency 
of  this  property.  A  motion  is  now  in  order  for  the  acceptance 
of  this  property,  and  that  an  order  be  drawn  on  the  treasury 
of  this  company  for  the  amount  of  seventy-five  thousand  dol 
lars." 

As  quickly  as  possible  the  motion  was  made,  seconded 
and  passed,  and  a  check  for  the  amount  was  made  out  and 
handed  to  the  attorney,  who  receipted  for  it,  agreeing  to  de 
liver  the  deed  as  soon  as  it  could  be  drawn  and  signed. 

The  attorney  returned  to  his  office,  and  when  Mr.  Man 
ning  arrived  with  Jones  and  Sprouls,  he  signed  the  deed  which 
Winters  had  drawn  up,  and  delivered  it  to  the  President  of 
the  bank.  Elmer  Jones  and  John  Sprouls  were  each  given  a 
check  for  one  thousand  dollars.  Five  thousand  was  paid  the 
attorney  for  putting  the  deal  through,  while  the  rest  was  divided 
equally  between  Manning  and  Winters  on  the  same  basis  as 
they  had  before  agreed  on  with  regard  to  the  mining  property. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM 

The  stage  arrived  in  due  time,  bringing  the  detective  and 
Marshal  Bass,  with  their  two  prisoners,  Brooks  and  Harding. 
They  were  taken  before  the  court,  where  they  pleaded  guilty 
to  the  charges  against  them,  and  were  each  given  a  term  in 
the  State  prison.  Thus  they  drop  out  of  sight  for  the  time 
being.  There  is  an  old  and  truthful  saying : 

"A  man's  sins  will  always  find  him  out,"  and  sooner  or 
later  he  will  have  to  pay  the  penalty  and  bear  the  disgrace  that 
it  brings.  Many  a  man's  career  of  usefulness  and  fame  has 
been  abandoned  to  sin  in  its  darkest  phases  for  the  possession 
of  gold.  They  will  take  chance  after  chance,  thinking  it  is 
right  to  sin  as  long  as  they  don't  get  caught;  but  Providence 
has  decreed  that  a  bar  shall  be  left  down  somewhere,  and  at 
some  time  the  crook  will  stumble  over  it. 

Why  men  take  such  chances  is  incomprehensible,  but  then 
life  is,  after  all,  a  mere  training-school.  It  is  far  better  to  have 
less,  and  to  be  honored  and  respected  by  all,  than  to  have  much 
that  is  ill-gotten,  and  be  without  peace  of  mind.  Not  alone  do 
the  guilty  suffer,  but  the  innocent  must  also.  Wives  and 
children  are  disgraced  and  ostracized  for  a  wrong  they  never 
committed  and  can  hardly  hope  to  overcome. 

The  Divine  One  has  said :  "A  good  name  is  rather  to  be 
chosen  than  great  riches,"  and  these  men  have  learned  the  les 
son,  but  too  late  to  help  them. 

Jack  Winters,  the  Missouri  attorney,  was  becoming  known 
in  the  capital  city  for  his  fine  business  methods  and  especially 
this  last  transaction  had  given  him  prestige.  Business  men 
took  a  fancy  to  him  and  turned  business  in  his  direction,  so 
that  he  soon  had  a  splendid  practice  in  his  chosen  profession. 

172 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  173 

His  success  in  mining  had  given  him  a  good  standing  with  the 
better  classes.  He  was  careful  in  his  choice  of  cases,  for  his 
money  made  it  possible  for  him  to  be  somewhat  independent 
in  the  kind  of  cases  he  took.  He  refused  to  cater  to  the  crimi 
nal  classes,  that  is,  defending  crooks,  but  built  up  a  practice 
only  along  such  lines  as  were  to  his  credit.  These  were  mostly 
civil  cases,  and  an  occasional  damage  suit,  all  of  which  paid 
him  well.  From  his  first  day  in  the  city,  business  had  simply 
come  to  him.  With  his  genial  personality,  and  his  business 
sagacity,  he  could  not  be  otherwise  than  popular. 

The  rainy  season  had  set  in.  The  hills  and  valley  which 
had  for  so  many  months  been  dry  and  parched  with  the  long 
summer  drouth,  became  green  and  luxuriant  again,  for  it  never 
rains  during  the  summer  time  in  California.  The  farmers  all 
grew  busy,  plowing  and  putting  in  their  crops  for  the  coming 
year,  for  December  is  the  month  for  seeding  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  The  crops  grow  during  the  rainy  season,  and  mature 
in  the  spring  before  the  dry  season  sets  in.  The  hills  were 
now  green  with  verdure,  while  roses  and  flowers  of  every  kind 
bloomed  everywhere,  as  they  always  do  in  California  the  year 
round.  Oranges  and  strawberries  were  ripening  and  being 
brought  to  market,  and  fresh  vegetables  of  all  kinds  were 
plentiful. 

All  this,  and  many  other  things  new  to  the  Missouri  people, 
had  made  the  Sacramento  Valley  a  very  attractive  place  to  them. 
They  had  come  a  long  way,  and  the  trip  had  been  a  hard  one, 
but  truly  it  was  worth  all  it  cost  them.  Their  horses  had 
plenty  of  green  pasture  and  were  soon  round  and  sleek.  The 
building  of  the  new  railroad  from  San  Francisco  to  Reno,  and 
thence  to  the  East,  gave  the  men  plenty  of  work  with  good 
wages,  for  they  used  their  teams  in  grading. 

The  newcomers  were  so  fascinated  with  the  West  and 
were  so  happy  in  their  new  homes  that  they  gave  up  all  thought 
of  returning  to  Old  Missouri.  Henry  Manning,  having  been 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


a  farmer  in  his  time,  yet  serving  as  a  Township  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  school  director,  etc.,  back  home,  but  who  was  also  a  good 
business  man,  spent  a  great  deal  of  his  time  in  driving  over  the 
country,  investigating  land  and  farms  in  the  San  Joaquin  and 
Sacramento  valleys.  Their  gold  mines  had  already  made  them 
wealthy,  so  Manning  soon  lost  interest  in  the  mining  district. 
This  was  not  so  much  because  of  the  hardships  which  they  had 
gone  through  in  finding  and  getting  out  their  gold,  but  because 
when  it  rains  in  the  valley  it  snows  in  the  hills  and  mountains, 
and  they  become  covered  with  snow  many  feet  deep.  Those 
who  are  in  the  mining  camps  when  winter  sets  in  have  to  stay 
there,  for  they  can  only  get  out  on  snowshoes  or  skis,  and  this 
is  difficult. 

Then  again  Manning  was  a  farmer,  and  he  was  much  more 
attracted  by  the  beautiful  valleys  and  farm  lands.  He  had 
made  his  stake  in  the  mining  camp,  and  was  satisfied  to  let  well 
enough  alone.  With  many,  it  becomes  so  fascinating  that  they 
are  not  satisfied  when  they  are  well  off,  but,  like  the  gambler 
when  he  wins  a  "stake,"  want  to  win  more,  and  ultimately  lose 
it  all.  But  Manning  was  not  that  way.  He  knew  the  value  of 
money  and  the  reliability  of  farming. 

One  day  he  purchased  a  light  rig  and  used  it  to  drive  every 
where,  investigating  "ranches"  as  they  are  called  in  the  West. 
He  heard  tfiat  the  millionaire  Hearst  had  bought  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  the  Sacramento  valley  for  the  paltry  sum  of  a  few 
dollars  per  acre.  He  went  to  see  it,  and  found  that  another 
large  tract  could  be  had,  not  far  away,  so  he  decided  that  if  it 
was  a  good  investment  for  the  Hearsts'  it  was  for  him,  and  he 
bought  several  thousand  acres  likewise,  for  a  few  dollars  per 
acre. 

In  those  days  settlers  were  few,  and  lands  were  cheap  in 
the  West.  He  put  the  title  of  the  land  in  the  name  of  his  two 
sons,  Lew  and  Robert,  who  had  found  the  gold  under  the 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  175 

roots  of  the  tree  at  Gold  Run.  He  had  always  maintained 
that  it  was  theirs,  and  he  wanted  to  make  it  safe  for  them. 

On  part  of  his  land  were  many  small  hills,  and  upon  one 
of  these  the  family  residence  was  erected.  The  Feather  river 
came  down  out  of  the  mountains  on  one  side  of  them  and  the 
Yuba  river  some  distance  on  the  other,  both  emptying  into 
the  Sacramento  river  in  the  valley,  and  then  flowing  on  to  the 
bay  of  San  Francisco. 

On  every  side,  he  heard  the  farmers  complaining  that  the 
river  beds  were  being  filled  up  with  debris  from  the  mining 
camps.  There  was  much  talk  about  the  legislation  against 
hydraulic  mining,  and  the  benefit  it  would  be  to  the  farmers  if 
it  was  stopped.  Henry  Manning  thought  little  about  it  until 
February,  when  the  heavy  rains  came.  Then  he  began  to  see 
and  understand  what  all  this  talk  was  about. 

The  part  of  his  land  which  extended  to  the  river  bottom 
was  the  most  productive  of  all,  and  gave  the  first  crop  of  the 
season.  When  the  heavy  rains  set  it,  the  water  began  rushing 
down  from  all  directions  to  the  rivers,  which  soon  overflowed, 
and  the  water  ran  over  the  farm  lands,  which  had  been  seeded 
for  the  next  season's  crops.  This  was  caused  by  the  debris 
from  the  mines,  which  filled  up  these  river  beds  and  caused 
them  to  overflow  upon  the  farm  lands  round  about.  Mr. 
Manning  soon  understood  the  indignation  of  the  farmers,  for 
he  lost  much  of  his  crop  by  the  flood. 

Manning's  family  had  stayed  in  Sacramento  during  the 
entire  winter,  that  the  children  might  be  in  school,  and  they 
were  making  rapid  progress  in  their  studies.  One  day  Myrtle 
came  running  over  to  see  Lew  and  Robert,  very  much  excited. 
The  three  children  were  still  the  same  fast  friends  that  they 
had  been  all  the  way  from,  Kansas  City. 

"Oh,  Lew,"  she  cried,  "I  have  some  good  news  for  you." 

"Well,  what  is  it,  little  girlie?"  he  asked  affectionately,  for 
their  friendship  had  budded  into  that  of  lovers. 


176 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Why,  your  daddy  is  over  at  our  house,  and  I  heard  him 
telling  my  pa  that  he  was  going  to  send  you  to  Berkeley  to 
school  at  the  State  University  this  fall.  Do  you  want  to  go?" 

"Sure,  but  you're  joking  about  it,"  and  he  drew  her  close 
to  him  in  a  very  affectionate  way. 

"No,  I'm  not.  He  said  you  were  a  bright  boy  and  would 
make  a  smart  man  if  you  got  the  right  kind  of  an  education, 
and  he  wanted  you  to  have  it." 

"I've  heard  several  of  the  boys  at  High  School  talking  about 
it,  but  I  never  dreamed  I  would  get  to  go,  for  daddy  bought  all 
of  that  land  up  there,  and  I  heard  him  say  he  was  expecting 
Robert  and  I  to  do  most  of  the  farming.  I  thought  I  would 
have  to  go  out  there  as  soon  as  school  was  out." 

"Well,  you  see  it  was  this  way,  Lew;  the  Professor  told 
your  dad  that  he  was  going  to  give  a  scholarship  to  one  of 
the  students  with  the  best  grades,  and  he  said  it  was  between 
you  and  Jim  Randall,  a  poor  boy  who  ranked  about  the  same, 
but  that  he  had  about  decided  to  give  it  to  you,  and  had  come 
to  tell  your  daddy  so.  But  your  dad  was  so  kind  and  good 
that  he  told  the  Professor  to  give  it  to  the  poor  boy,  so  he  could 
go  to  the  University,  for  he  needed  it  the  most." 

"I'm  glad  that  daddy  did  that,  for  Jim  is  a  good  boy,  but 
what  did  the  Prof  say?"  asked  Lew,  anxious  to  hear  all  the 
facts. 

"Oh,  he  said  he  wanted  you  to  go,  for  you  had  taken  such 
an  interest  in  engineering  and  surveying  that  he  thought  it 
would  be  a  shame  for  you  not  to  have  the  advantage  of  a  Uni 
versity  course.  Then  your  dad  told  him  to  go  on  and  give 
the  scholarship  to  Jim,  and  he  would  send  you  along,  too. 
Wasn't  that  nice  of  him  ?" 

"Yes,  that  was  nice  of  him,  but,  Myrtle,  there  is  one  reason 
why  I  hate  to  go,"  he  said,  putting  his  arm  around  her  waist, 
and  giving  her  a  pleasant  smile. 

"Why?  What  is  it,  Lew?"  she  asked,  pretending  not  to 
understand. 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  177 

"I  don't  want  to  go  unless  you  go,  too,"  he  said,  giving  her 
a  squeeze. 

"I  wonder  if  I  could  go,  too,"  she  said,  for  she  did  not  want 
to  be  away  from  her  friend,  either. 

"No,  I  don't  think  you  could.  You  know  you  have  to  keep 
house  for  your  pa,  but  you  know  I  could  never  content  myself 
there  without  you." 

"I  know ;  I've  had  to  do  that  ever  since  mama  left  us,  and 
that's  been  a  long  time  now,  but  say !  don't  say  a  word  about  it, 
but  I  think  I'm  going  to  have  a  new  mama  soon,  Lew !" 

"Really?  Who  could  it  be?"  He  was  delighted  at  the 
news. 

"Oh,  you  know  pa  has  been  going  to  see  Miss  Stutts  a  lot 
lately,  and  the  other  day  she  said  maybe  she  would  come  and 
live  with  us." 

"Well,  that  sure  looks  like  it,"  he  smiled,  kissing  her  hand, 
which  he  had  been  holding. 

"Yes,  sir,  and  if  she  does,  I'm  going  to  ask  pa  to  let  me  go 
to  the  University,  too,"  said  Myrtle,  leaning  her  curly  head 
upon  his  shoulder. 

"My,  I'd  be  glad  if  you  could,  Myrtle!  We've  been  such 
good  friends  that  I  know  I'd  be  awfully  lonesome  at  the  Uni 
versity  if  you  weren't  there,  too." 

"I  heard  him  say  that  he  wouldn't  have  had  money  enough 
to  send  us  to  the  University  if  it  hadn't  been  for  us  children 
finding  it  by  that  big  tree  up  at  the  mines,  and  that  it  was  no 
more  than  right  that  you  had  a  good  education  out  of  it.  He 
said  he  was  going  to  see  that  his  boys  got  one,  too,  as  the 
money  was  really  theirs." 

"That  same  argument  would  work  in  your  case,  too,  for 
you  were  with  us  when  we  found  the  gold.  I  think  your 
father  ought  to  send  you  to  school,  too,"  drawing  his  arm  a 
little  tighter  around  her. 

"I  am  going  right  home  and  ask  him,  and  keep  on  asking 


178 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

him  till  he  says  'yes,'  wouldn't  you?  I  want  to  go  if  you  do, 
Lew." 

"Yes,  and  if  it  will  help  you  any,  I'll  ask  him,  too." 

"You  mustn't  do  that.  He  might  think  I  just  wanted  to 
go  because  you  are  going,"  she  said,  for  she  did  not  want  her 
father  to  know  of  Lew's  love  for  her. 

"We  wouldn't  let  them  know  the  reason,  but  then  I  do  want 
you  to  go,"  he  said,  and  Myrtle  blushed,  he  was  so  in  earnest 
about  it.  But  she  didn't  care  if  Lew  did  see  her,  for  she  was 
as  much  interested  in  it  as  he  was. 

Myrtle  likewise  had  made  good  grades  in  her  studies  at 
school  for  the  past  two  years,  and  had  a  great  desire  to  go  to 
the  State  University  for  a  course  in  literary  work,  of  which 
she  was  very  fond.  Robert  had  another  year  in  High  School 
yet,  before  his  turn  came. 

The  time  went  on  until  graduation  day  at  the  High  School, 
and  still  nothing  was  said  to  Lew  about  a  University  course 
except  what  Myrtle  had  told  him.  When  the  time  came  for.  the 
announcement  of  the  scholarship  and  its  winner,  all  eyes  were 
turned  upon  Lew,  for  they  all  expected  him  to  get  it,  as  he  had 
been  the  favorite  during  his  senior  year  in  school. 

"The  scholarship  ratings  were  a  tie  between  James  Randall 
and  Lewis  Manning,"  said  the  Professor.  "They  were  both 
so  accurate  and  punctual  in  their  work,  that  we  were  unable  to 
make  any  distinction  between  them.  Their  parents  were  called 
in  to  talk  it  over,  and  Henry  Manning  said  to  give  it  to  both 
of  them,  and  he  would  pay  for  one  of  the  scholarships,"  and  a 
great  applause  went  up  from  all  over  the  room.  They  knew  that 
James  was  bright  and  worthy,  but  his  mother  was  poor,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  wear  shabby  clothing.  He  could  not  go  out 
into  society,  or  take  part  in  any  of  the  High  School  functions 
as  he  so  often  wished  he  might,  yet  he  was  liked  by  them  all. 

It  was  different  with  Lew  Manning.  He  was  not  only 
bright  and  popular,  but  able  to  dress  for  any  occasion,  and 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  179 

was  at  home  in  any  circle.  This,  of  course,  made  him  popular 
with  the  entire  school. 

After  the  applause  had  quieted  down,  the  Professor  con 
tinued  : 

"I  am  pleased  to  announce,  also,  that  the  one  ranking  next 
will  likewise  be  able  to  go  to  the  State  University,  for  Miss 
Myrtle  Winters  has  also  been  presented  with  a  scholarship  by 
her  father."  Again  cheers  wrent  up  from  all' parts  of  the  house. 
Myrtle  and  Lew  looked  at  each  other  understandingly. 

As  soon  as  school  was  closed,  the  Mannings  moved  to  their 
ranch  in  the  Sacramento  valley  for  the  vacation  season,  as 
they  had  done  for  two  summers  previously.  Myrtle  was  permit 
ted  to  spend  her  vacation,  or  a  part  of  it,  with  them,  which  she 
always  enjoyed  very  much.  Mrs.  Manning  had  always  been 
like  a  mother  to  her,  from  the  time  her  own  mother  died,  but 
when  she  returned  to  her  own  home  late  that  summer  she 
found  that  she  had  another  mother.  Miss  Stutts  had  become 
Mrs.  Jack  Winters,  and  they  had  just  moved  into  the  new  house 
he  had  built  on  N  street,  just  south  of  the  State  Capitol 
grounds. 

During  the  summer  season,  Lew  spent  much  of  his  time 
in  the  hills  and  up  in  the  mountains.  He  even  went  to  the 
mining  camps  with  Abraham  Roe,  the  U.  S.  Geological  Sur 
veyor,  a  special  friend  of  Henry  Manning's.  He  was  making 
a  Government  survey,  gathering  statistics  for  the  Bureau  of 
Mining,  and  making  geological  maps.  This  work  was  right 
in  line  with  the  favorite  study  of  young  Manning,  so  he  had 
gone  to  the  surveyor  and  asked  for  the  privilege  of  accompany 
ing  and  assisting  him  in  his  work  during  his  vacation,  as  it 
would  help  him  in  his  studies  at  the  University. 

At  first  he  refused,  saying  that  he  did  not  want  to  be 
bothered  with  boys,  but  Lew  stayed,  running  errands  for  him, 
carrying  instruments  and  assisting  in  chaining,  until  the  old 

12 


180 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

surveyor  saw  that  he  would  be  useful  to  him,  and  at  last  he 
asked : 

"Young  man,  what  do  you  expect  to  make  of  yourself,  as 
you  say  you  are  going  to  the  State  University  ?" 

"An  engineer,  sir,"  said  Lew  emphatically.  ''This  is  right 
in  my  line  of  study,  and  that  is  why  I  wanted  to  be  with  you. 
I  could  gain  a  credit  in  my  study  at  the  University  if  you 
would  let  me  work  with  you  this  summer." 

"I  admire  your  ambition,  young  man,  but  you  see  I  have 
all  the  help  I  need,  and  can't  afford  to  pay  you  anything." 

"That'll  be  all  right,  Mr.  Roe,  I  don't  want  anything.  All  I 
want  is  the  actual  experience  in  the  work.  The  young  man 
you  have  with  you  now  is  not  very  well,  and  needs  a  rest.  If 
you  think  I  can  do  his  work,  I  would  suggest  that  you  send 
him  down  to  the  city  for  a  rest  on  full  pay,  and  I  will  do  his 
work  for  you  without  any  pay  myself." 

The  old  surveyor  was  pleased,  and  said,  "I  like  the  way  you 
talk,  young  man,  and  if  your  father  will  agree  to  your  staying 
here,  I  will  do  that." 

To  which  Lew  replied :  "Father  and  I  have  talked  it  over. 
He  and  my  brother  like  to  farm,  but  I  don't.  I  have  decided 
upon  this  kind  of  work,  and  can't  content  myself  with  anything 
else,  so  I  have  already  asked  him,  and  he  has  given  his  consent." 

"I  will  go  down  and  see  your  father  about  it  tonight,  and 
if  he  is  willing,  I  will  do  as  you  suggest,  for  the  young  man 
does  need  a  rest." 

That  evening  the  old  engineer  and  the  two  young  men  went 
to  the  ranch  home  of  Henry  Manning.  Roe  had  been  in  the 
employ  of  the  Government  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and  was 
a  regular  book  of  knowledge  when  it  came  to  discussing  geology 
or  mineralogy.  The  Mannings  were  always  interested  in  any 
thing  pertaining  to  mining,  for  they  had  made  their  fortune 
in  that  line,  but  the  strange  part  about  it  was  that  they  knew 
nothing  about  it,  as  their  experience  had,  all  told,  been  confined 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  181 

to  just  one  week  in  a  mining  camp ;  but  the  hardships  and  diffi 
culties  in  that  one  week  were  such  that  they  did  not  care  to  go 
back  again !  Nevertheless,  it  was  an  interesting  subject  to 
them  and  was  often  discussed  among  themselves,  and  every 
thing  appearing  in  the  papers  about  mining  was  eagerly  read 
by  them.  When  an  experienced  man  like  Abraham  Roe,  the 
old  engineer,  visited  them,  it  was  a  veritable  feast  for  them, 
and  there  was  no  end  to  the  questions  put  to  him  touching  every 
point  in  the  great  industry. 

In  spite  of  all  the  interest  manifested  in  hydraulic  mining, 
and  the  thousands  of  people  coming  to  the  state  for  that  pur 
pose,  this  industry  was  now  a  dead  one.  What  had  been  a 
booming  and  very  profitable  industry  some  months  previously, 
was  now  abandoned  almost  entirely,  except  where  men  here 
and  there  could  slip  in  a  day  or  two  unknown  to  the  Debris 
Commissioner.  The  anti-debris  injunction  had  been  upheld, 
and  had  become  a  law.  The  debris  inspectors  had  been  armed 
and  sent  to  the  mining  districts  to  see  that  this  law  was  en 
forced,  and  hydraulic  mining  was  now  a  thing  of  the  past,  ex 
cept  under  certain  restrictions.  The  mining  people  made  a 
brave  fight  to  save  their  industry,  but  had  lost. 

Placer  mining  continued,  as  did  likewise  drift  gravel  mining, 
where  there  were  proper  arrangements  for  empounding  the 
tailings,  and  hydraulic  mining  could  be  carried  on  upon  a  small 
scale  under  the  same  restrictions.  There  were  no  restrictions 
upon  quartz  mining,  though,  but  that  industry  was  yet  in  its 
infancy,  owing  to  the  lack  of  railroads  to  bring  in  the  heavy 
mining  machinery. 

Not  only  was  Engineer  Roe  running  the  surveys  for  the 
Government,  but  he  was  also  making  estimates  of  the  debris 
which  had  filled  the  channels  of  the  streams.  He  ascertained 
the  amount  of  dredging  that  would  be  necessary  for  the  Govern 
ment  to  do,  in  case  they  deemed  it  advisable  to  undertake  it. 

He  was  also  to  make  an  estimate  of  the  yardage  of  gravel 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


piped  away  by  the  hydraulic  process  of  mining,  and  the  number 
of  yards  yet  in  place,  together  with  the  yield  of  what  had  been 
mined  and  the  value  of  the  gravel  beds  yet  available. 

This  work  was  an  interesting  study  to  young  Manning.  It 
was  an  education  in  itself,  and  gave  him  an  actual  experience 
which  he  could  not  get  out  of  books.  He  learned  how  to  make 
estimates  and  calculations,  and  was  so  accurate  in  his  figures 
that  before  the  vacation  was  over  he  did  practically  all  the 
figuring  for  Mr.  Roe,  and  was  such  a  help  to  the  engineer 
that  he  was  sorry  when  the  time  came  for  Lew  to  start  to 
college. 

The  outdoor  work  was  just  what  Lew  needed.  He  became 
stout  and  hearty,  tanned  and  sunburned,  but  as  healthy  and 
rugged  as  he  could  be.  As  the  survey  could  not  all  be  com 
pleted  that  fall,  Mr.  Roe  promised  Lew  a  job  with  him  next 
vacation,  when  the  work  would  be  continued. 

While  he  was  working  with  the  surveyor,  Lew  would  mount 
his  pony  and  ride  to  the  home  place  every  Saturday  afternoon 
when  he  was  close  enough,  and  sometimes  would  be  home  for 
a  night  during  the  week.  He  always  found  Myrtle  watching 
for  him  when  he  came  in  sight,  and  then  she  would  hurry  out 
to  meet  him.  She  was  lonely  when  he  was  away,  but  she  felt 
sure  that  Lew  was  gaining  much  useful  information  in  his 
chosen  line.  She  knew  that  his  experience  under  such  a  com 
petent  teacher  meant  a  great  deal  to  him  (for  he  had  explained 
it  all  to  her),  so  she  did  not  object  to  his  absence,  but  spent 
much  of  her  time  with  Mrs.  Manning  and  in  riding  with  Robert 
over  the  ranch  on  their  ponies.  She  also  read  a  great  deal, 
when  good  books  could  be  had,  but  the  time  seemed  long  to 
her  when  Lew  was  away  so  much  of  the  time. 

During  many  of  the  evenings,  and  on  Sunday,  Lew  and 
Myrtle  spent  their  time  in  the  hammock  under  the  grape  arbor, 
or  in  the  garden  among  the  flowers,  for  two  lovers  were  never 
more  devoted  and  happy  than  they  were. 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  183 

To  him,  the  vacation  was  entirely  too  short,  for  it  was  so 
interesting  to  him  to  learn  about  the  gold  mines  which  had  been 
so  productive,  although  they  were  closed  down  now.  He 
learned  how  to  measure  and  compute  the  great  gravel  beds, 
and  to  estimate  their  values.  He  wanted  to  stay  on -and  con 
tinue  the  work,  but  could  not,  as  arrangements  were  made  to 
enter  the  University  with  his  classmates. 

However,  his  work  during  the  vacation  time  was  of  such 
a  nature,  and  the  instructions  from  the  old  engineer  so  prac 
tical,  that  when  Lew  began  his  work  in  the  University  he 
easily  led  his  class  in  the  engineering  department  with  but 
very  little  study.  He  did  not  waste  his  time,  however,  but  gave 
it  to  English  composition  and  literature.  His  ambition  was  not 
only  to  be  thorough  in  his  engineering  work,  but  accurate  in 
his  English  and  composition  as  well.  So  many  great  men  are 
deficient  in  these  lines,  which  they  neglected  while  students, 
much  to  their  regret  in  after  life. 

This  gave  Lew  a  chance  to  do  considerable  studying  with 
Myrtle,  but  this  had  not  continued  long  until  one  day  Lew 
looked  up  at  Myrtle  from  his  book,  out  of  which  they  had 
been  studying  together,  and  said : 

"Myrtle,  I'm  afraid  I'll  have  to  give  up  my  study  of  litera 
ture." 

"I  don't  see  why.  It's  not  difficult,  and  you  have  your  les 
sons  perfectly." 

"That  isn't  the  trouble,  Myrtle." 

"What  is  it  then?  Does  it  take  too  much  time  from  your 
other  studies?"  she  asked,  not  understanding  him  at  all. 

"No,  not  that,  either." 

"Tell  me  what  you  mean.  You  have  my  curiosity  aroused 
now." 

"It's  you,  Myrtle,"  he  smiled. 

"Well,  I  like  that!"  she  said  poutingly.  "I  thought  you 
liked  to  study  with  me." 


184 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"You  don't  understand  me,  Myrtle.  I'm  not  tired  of  you. 
It's  simply  this,  little  girl;  our  friendship  has  been  unbroken 
from  the  first  day  we  met,  several  years  ago,  as  we  were  about 
to  leave  Kansas  City.  We  were  kids  then,  but  we're  older  now, 
and  my  friendship  has  grown  into  love  for  you,  little  one.  There 
are  three  years  of  college  work  yet  before  us,  and  if  we  study 
together  much  longer  I'm  afraid  I'll  get  to  showing  my  ad 
miration  for  you  too  much,"  and  he  pressed  his  strong  arm 
tightly  around  her  waist. 

Myrtle  blushed,  bit  her  finger  nail,  then  looked  silently  at 
the  floor  and  said  nothing. 

"You  don't  like  that  kind  of  talk?  do  you?"  he  asked,  teas- 
ingly. 

"I  don't  mind  it,  Lew,  when  it  comes  from  you,  but  this 
isn't  finishing  our  lesson,"  still  she  laid  her  curly  head  lovingly 
against  his  cheek. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  little  one,  for  interrupting  you." 

"No,  don't  do  that,  Lew.  I  don't  mind  your  interruptions, 
but  if  we  are  to  finish  college,  it  might  be  better  for  us  to  con 
tinue  our  friendship,  and  talk  these  other  things  over  during 
vacation  or  when  we  have  finished  college,"  thinking  only  of 
his  incomplete  education. 

"That  is  cruel,  little  girl,  to  make  a  man  wait  so  long  to 
give  expression  to  the  things  which  are  in  his  heart.  I  can 
hardly  stand  it  any  longer,  as  it  is,"  he  said  regretfully. 

"You  are  joking  me  now,"  much  pleased,  but  trying  to 
pretend  otherwise. 

"Did  I  ever  deceive  you,  or  tell  you  a  falsehood?" 

"No,  not  that  I  know  of." 

"Why  do  you  think  I  would  now,  then?" 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  Lew,  I  don't,  and  I  feel  a  whole  lot 
like  you  do,  but  I  have  such  great  hopes  for  you  and  your  fu 
ture  success  that  I  would  not  lay  a  straw  in  your  way.  I  know 
you  will  need  this  education  in  your  chosen  line,  but  if  it  wasn't 


THE  LULL  BEFORE  THE  STORM  185 

for  that  I  would  say,  to  the  wind  with  college,"  she  said,  throw 
ing  her  arms  affectionately  around  his  neck; 

''How  nice  for  you  to  say  that,  little  one !  I  think  more  of 
you  now  than  ever,  since  I  see  that  you  are  doing  it  all  for  my 
success,"  and  putting  his  arms  around  her,  he  held  her  close 
to  him. 

The  gong  sounded  just  then  for  all  students  to  be  in  their 
rooms,  so  Lew  bid  Myrtle  a  hasty  good-night,  for  her  room 
mate  would  come  in  from  the  adjoining  building  in  a  moment. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  FLASH  OF  LIGHTNING 

A  few  days  after  the  sale  of  the  Golden  West  Alining 
property  to  the  bankers,  and  after  the  disposal  of  the  two  prison 
ers  from  Dutch  Flat,  Marshal  Bass  was  ready  to  talk  busi 
ness.  He  was  well  pleased  with  the  sale  of  the  property,  not 
only  for  the  sake  of  the  company  for  which  he  was  to  work, 
but  for  the  sake  of  his  friends  from  Missouri.  He  knew  of  all 
the  trouble  they  had  had  over  that  property,  and  he  did  not 
think  it  would  be  safe  for  them  to  go  back  there  again,  as  the 
feeling  among  the  guards  was  very  bitter. 

He  did  not  know  the  amount  of  the  money  that  the  Man 
nings  had  brought  with  them  to  the  city.  He  knew  they  had 
found  some  gold,  but  thought  the  greater  part  of  their  money 
was  from  the  sale  of  the  property.  When  Manning  and 
Winters  met  Bass,  they  apologized  to  him  for  selling  the  prop 
erty  without  getting  his  consent,  but  he  only  replied :  "No 
apology  is  necessary,  fellows.  The  bank  acted  on  my  recom 
mendation.  I  saw  that  the  feeling  was  so  intense  that  I  even 
considered  my  own  life  in  danger  if  I  fought  it  any  longer. 
The  only  thing  to  do,  in  my  opinion,  was  to  sell  it." 

"We  only  sold  after  the  bank  had  promised  to  take  care  of 
you  with  a  good  job,"  replied  Winters. 

"Thank  you  for  that,  but  it  was  not  necessary,  for  they 
had  already  asked  me  to  take  Harding's  place  when  they  found 
out  what  he  was." 

"We  would  never  have  said  a  word  if  we  had  known  we 
were  talking  to  the  President  of  his  company  when  we  told 
that  story.  They  questioned  us  about  the  gold,  and  we  had  to 
tell  them  the  truth  so  they  would  not  suspicion  us,  and  when 
we  got  started  they  wouldn't  let  us  stop  until  we  had  finished 

186 


THE  FLASH   OF  LIGHTNING 187 

it.  Then  the  President  of  the  bank  told  us  who  he  was,  and 
we  saw  at  once  what  we  had  done,"  replied  Manning,  trying  to 
make  it  right. 

"I  had  a  good  laugh  when  I  heard  that,"  said  Bass. 

"Here,  Mr.  Bass,  is  my  check  for  one  thousand  dollars," 
said  Winters. 

"And  mine  for  two  thousand,"  put  in  Manning,  "for  your 
services  to  us.  We  give  this  more  as  a  token  of  esteem,  as 
the  company  has  agreed  to  take  care  of  you  in  a  royal  way." 

"Well,  I  will  accept  it  as  a  token  of  esteem,  but  not  for 
services,  for  I  have  made  as  much  money  out  of  this  as  either 
of  you  men  have.  The  amount  of  gold  I  captured  upon  those 
two  thieves  was  something  startling,  for  they  had  been  in  part 
nership  and  had  been  stealing  gold  for  months,  but  were  un 
able  to  get  out  with  it  until  the  railroad  was  completed.  They 
hoped  to  ship  it  out  then,  but  I  caught  them  a  little  ahead  of 
time.  As  a  reward,  the  company  told  me  today  that  I  should 
have  half  of  what  1  captured,  so  I  am  well  fixed." 

"That  is  the  best  news  we  have  heard  for  a  long  time,  Bass. 
It  pleases  us  to  know  that  a  man  of  your  worth  is  appreciated 
by  the  company.  They  told  us  that  they  had  had  their  eyes 
upon  you  ever  since  you  came  here,  and  that  they  knew  you 
were  as  straight  as  Old  Missouri  ever  made  a  man,"  said 
Winters.  "Yes,  Mr.  Bass,  and  now  that  you  are  to  take  a  place 
of  responsibility  in  managing  the  company  property,  we  hope 
they  will  always  have  the  same  opinion  of  you.  Some  people 
can't  stand  prosperity,  it  ruins  them,  but  I  am  sure  it  can't  hurt 
the  crowd  that  came  from  Warsaw." 

"That  is  kind  of  you,  Jack !"  replied  Bass,  "and  now  I'll  tell 
you  what  I'm  going  to  do  for  you  men,  knowing  you  as  I  do," 
with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 

"What  is  that  ?"  asked  Manning,  and  the  Marshal  replied : 

"Mr.  Garner  tells  me  that  you  are  going  to  keep  the  name 
of  the  Golden  West  Mining  Company  alive,  and  take  over  an- 


188 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

other  property  as  soon  as  a  suitable  one  can  be  found,  to  go  on 
mining  for  the  sake  of  the  people  back  home  whom  you  prom 
ised  to  help.  Garner  said  he  had  placed  ten  thousand  dollars 
to  the  credit  of  the  company  to  be  used  on  the  new  property, 
so  I  shall  place  this  three  thousand  you  have  given  me  to  the 
credit  of  the  company  also.  I  know  you  and  trust  you,  and 
I  want  that  much  put  in  whatever  you  go  in  on." 

"That  is  fine  in  you,  Bass.  You  can  bank  on  a  Missourian 
every  time,"  said  Manning,  giving  him  a  hearty  handshake. 
"We'll  treat  you  right,  old  boy,  and  if  we  don't  get  another 
property,  this  money  will  come  back  to  you." 

"All  right.  Good-bye,  and  good  luck  to  you  men.  I  must 
be  off,  for  it  is  storming  in  the  mountains  now,  and  if  I  don't 
get  off  I  won't  be  able  to  get  to  the  Flat  before  the  snow  blocks 
the  way.  Come  up  and  see  us  in  the  spring.  The  fight  will  be 
all  blown  over  then." 

"Thanks.     Good-bye,  Bass,  and  good  luck  to  you,  too." 

The  Marshal  boarded  the  stage,  which  passed  through 
Dutch  Flat,  en  route  for  Kansas  City.  This  stage  line  had  been 
in  operation  for  some  weeks  and  was  operated  by  a  company 
who  kept  relay  stations  all  along  the  route,  from  the  Coast 
to  Kansas  City,  where  the  teams  and  drivers,  after  driving  as 
far  as  they  could  go  in  one  day,  were  changed  for  fresh  ones. 
It  then  proceeded  to  the  next  station,  where  another  team  and 
driver  awaited  them,  and  so  on,  until  the  end  of  the  journey  was 
reached.  Thus,  by  keeping  the  stage  on  the  go  day  and  night, 
they  covered  the  distance  in  three  or  four  weeks'  time.  This 
provided  a  much  quicker  way  to  the  East  than  by  boat  to 
Panama,  then  across  the  neck  of  land  joining  North  and  South 
America  by  rail,  and  on  up  the  Atlantic  coast  by  boat  again, 
or  by  making  the  trip  all  the  way  by  boat  around  the  Horn. 

The  farmers  and  marine  companies  hailed  the  news  that  the 
courts  had  stopped  hydraulic  mining  with  joy,  as  it  was  a  vic 
tory  for  which  they  had  been  fighting  a  long  time.  But  there  is 


THE  FLASH   OF  LIGHTNING 189 

no  victory  on  one  side  without  defeat  for  the  other,  and  while 
it  pleased  the  victors  very  much,  it  was  just  as  much  deplored 
and  regretted  by  the  mining  populace.  They  figured  that  it 
interfered  with  their  personal  rights,  and  their  private  busi 
ness  ;  that  if  this  law  was  enforced,  it  would  destroy  one  of  the 
greatest  industries  in  the  country.  Their  plans  were,  not  to 
cease  operations,  but  to  fight  the  law  and  have  it  declared  un 
constitutional,  but  in  the  meantime  to  continue  to  work  their 
mines,  which  had  produced  hundreds  of  millions  in  gold  so 
far.  A  good  many  times  that  much  more  was  available,  if 
the  hydraulic  method  of  mining  could  be  continued. 

Before  many  months  the  fight  had  become  bitter.  Many 
of  the  mining  men  were  arrested  for  violation  of  the  law,  and 
the  life  of  a  stranger  was  in  peril  if  he  went  into  one  of  these 
mining  camps  unannounced,  for  if  the  miners  thought  he  was 
an  anti-debris  inspector  he  was  liable  to  be  shot.  Many  men 
met  their  death  in  this  way,  for  the  miners  held  that  they  were 
but  defending  their  own  rights. 

Little  by  little  the  Commission  gained  ground  in  enforcing 
the  new  law,  but  it  cost  them  the  lives  of  a  number  of  their 
deputies,  some  of  them  mighty  good  men.  The  losses  were 
not  all  on  the  side  of  the  law,  however,  for  many  of  the  miners 
fell  in  their  fights  with  the  .officers.  Finally,  some  of  the  old- 
timers  in  that  region  were  employed  to  inspect  the  camps  and 
to  report  where  the  law  was  being  violated,  then  raids  were 
made  upon  them  in  force. 

This  business  soon  grew  to  be  a  "graft."  These  men  would 
tell  the  operators  of  a  certain  mine  that  for  so  much  money 
they  would  provide  protection  by  reporting  to  the  Commission 
that  no  mining  was  going  on  there.  Sometimes,  when  they 
found  that  a  raid  was  going  to  be  made  on  a  certain  camp  at 
such  a  time,  they  would  send  a  runner  ahead  to  tell  the  miners 
to  close  down,  and  when  the  officers  arrived  they  would  find 
everything  quiet.  Many  of  the  inspectors  were  said  to  have 
become  very  wealthy  in  this  manner. 


190  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

George  Garner,  President  of  the  company  at  Dutch  Flat, 
sent  word  to  Bass  to  continue  operations,  but  to  make  no 
physical  resistance,  and  if  his  men  were  arrested,  they  would 
make  a  test  case  of  it  and  try  the  constitutionality  of  the  law. 
Therefore,  Bass  went  on  building  his  pipe-line  to  the  new  prop 
erty.  He  could  not  be  molested  in  his  work,  for  there  was  no 
law  prohibiting  the  building  of  pipe-lines,  or  developing  water 
rights,  as  that  would  interfere  with  irrigation.  Thus,  after  a 
while  his  pipe-line  was  completed,  and  the  giant  erected  for 
work. 

The  officers  sent  word  to  him  not  to  start  up,  but  his  orders 
from  headquarters  were  otherwise.  The  officers  had  had  so 
much  trouble  with  other  miners  violating  the  law,  and  so  many 
of  them  were  killed,  that  they  decided  to  take  no  chances  in 
this  case,  and  notified  Bass  what  he  could  expect  if  he  disobeyed 
their  orders.  Bass  had  been  a  peace  officer  too  long  to  wilfully 
violate  the  law,  but  his  orders  were  to  go  ahead.  They  wanted 
to  make  it  a  test  case,  for  they  had  plenty  of  money  to  fight  it. 

The  officers  did  not  understand  his  intentions,  but  knowing 
what  a  crack  shot  he  was,  and  fearing  serious  trouble  and  injury 
if  a  fight  was  started,  they  concealed  themselves  nearby  in  the 
brush,  and  when  the  water  was  turned  on  a  volley  of  shots 
rang  out,  and  the  men  at  the  monitor  fell  in  a  heap.  The 
career  of  Marshal  Bass  was  ended,  as  were  the  operations  of 
the  company  in  that  section  of  the  state. 

Their  great  and  extensive  properties  were  closed  down,  and 
they  have  never  resumed  work  again.  Three  of  the  company's 
best  men  were  taken  by  this  one  act  of  violating  the  law.  Their 
intentions  were  good,  and  they  were  working  under  orders, 
yet  the  old  adage  comes  to  us  again,  that  the  "way  of  the 
transgressor  is  hard." 

When  the  news  was  carried  to  the  company  in  Sacramento 
of  the  fate  of  Bass,  they  were  greatly  shocked,  and  were  so  dis 
gusted  at  the  mining  business  that  they  decided  to  do  nothing 


THE  FLASH   OF  LIGHTNING 191 

more  in  gravel  mining  until  the  law  should  be  repealed,  and 
they  took  the  blame  of  the  whole  thing  to  themselves,  which 
is  where  it  belonged. 

It  is  an  easy  thing  sometimes  to  violate  a  law,  but  it  is  not 
so  easy  to  get  rid  of  the  consequences  of  that  wrong.  Never 
a  day  went  by  after  that  but  that  Garner  and  his  board  of  direc 
tors  felt  the  sting  of  guilt  for  the  death  of  Marshal  Bass  and 
his  men.  They  tried  to  forget  it  and  live  it  down,  but  constantly 
their  guilty  consciences  reminded  them  of  it,  and  the  blood  of 
a  good  man  cried  out  against  them.  So  it  is  that  many  firms 
and  corporations  think  only  of  their  selfish  interests  and  per 
sonal  gain,  while  they  fail  to  take  into  consideration  the  safety 
and  personal  welfare  of  their  employees. 

Thus  the  hydraulic  mining  business  gradually  drew  to  a 
close.  Scores  of  fine  propositions  were  brought  to  a  standstill, 
never  to  be  touched  again  unless  some  way  be  devised  for  im 
pounding  the  debris.  The  gravel  beds  all  contain  gold,  but  as 
the  most  of  it  only  runs  to  fifteen  cents  per  cubic  yard,  any 
other  process  of  mining  it  is  unprofitable.  Everybody  inter 
ested  has  hoped  and  planned  for  some  scheme  whereby  the  two 
billions  of  dollars  yet  in  the  gravel  beds  of  California  could  be 
recovered.  Some  time,  some  one  will  solve  this  problem. 

It  is  a  great  sight  to  drive  out  over  the  country  around 
North  Columbia,  Sailor  Flat,  Blue  Tent,  Dutch  Flat,  and  a 
hundred  other  places,  and  see  where  millions  and  millions  have 
been  mined.  To  look  at  the  great  gravel  beds  yet  standing,  in 
some  places  from  three  to  five  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  know 
the  great  treasure  they  contain,  makes  a  mining  man's  mouth 
water  to  get  back  into  the  game. 

Thus  the  winter  passed  by  without  much  interest  being 
taken  in  the  mining  business.  The  banker  and  his  company, 
and  all  connected  therewith,  had  lost  heart.  They  all  felt 
keenly  the  loss  of  Bass.  Without  him,  with  his  wise  counsel 
and  guiding  hand,  they  felt  that  it  was  not  worth  while  to 


193 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

invest  again,  and  then  the  law  was  against  them  in  their 
method  of  mining. 

When  spring  came,  the  Golden  West  Mining  Company 
people  began  to  hear  from  "back  home."  The  first  mail  that 
came  across  the  plains  brought  many  orders  for  stock  in 
the  new  mine.  The  literature  had  gone  back  upon  the  last 
stage  in  the  fall,  and  the  winter  had  been  spent  by  their 
friends  in  Missouri  in  discussing  the  possibilities  of  the  mine 
and  the  great  wealth  it  might  possibly  bring  them.  Every  one 
who  could  raise  a  dollar  sent  it.  Homes  were  mortgaged 
to  get  money  to  invest  in  the  new  mine.  Horses  and  fam 
ily  cows  were  sold  and  the  money  sent  to  California,  and 
every  one  who  could  borrow  a  dollar,  did  so,  and  sent  it 
along.  Thus  a  constant  stream  of  money  came  in  to  Man 
ning,  Winters,  Sprouls,  and  others  of  the  company,  to  invest 
in  the  Golden  West.  Little  by  little  the  bank  account  climbed 
up,  until  thousands  were  upon  deposit  to  the  company's  credit. 

What  was  to  be  done  with  this  money?  They  had  sent 
out  the  advertising  in  good  faith.  They  really  had  the  prop 
erty  and  had  really  recovered  the  gold,  as  it  reported,  but 
things  had  changed.  They  had  sold  their  property,  the  anti- 
debris  bill  had  become  a  law,  and  their  plans  had  become 
worthless.  They  could  not  keep  this  money  without  invest 
ing  it  in  some  mining  enterprise,  for  they  knew  the  people 
who  had  sent  it  had  faith  in  them.  They  also  knew  that 
their  friends  in  the  East  were  not  particular  how  it  was  in 
vested,  just  so  they  got  good  returns  upon  their  money. 

It  was  now  up  to  the  Golden  West  people  to  either  re 
turn  the  money  or  get  another  property  and  make  their 
clients  some  money.  What  should  be  done?  Most  of  the 
company  who  came  out  with  them  had  worked  all  winter 
on  the  railroad,  grading,  at  good  wages,  and  had  plenty  of 
work  in  sight  for  the  summer  if  they  wanted  it,  but  they 
had  come  to  make  a  fortune  in  mining,  and  they  were  not 
disposed  to  let  the  opportunity  go  by  without  an  effort. 


THE  FLASH   OF  LIGHTNING 193 

A  meeting  was  called,  inviting  all  the  men  who  had  come 
through  with  them  to  come  and  talk  over  methods  as  well 
as  possibilities.  There  were  now  thousands  of  men  every 
where  idle,  having  been  thrown  out  of  work  by  the  sus 
pension  of  hydraulic  mining.  The  creeks  and  rivers  and 
gravel  beds  everywhere  had  been  explored  and  examined 
for  rich  deposits  of  gold,  and  had  all  been  pretty  well  cleaned 
up.  The  gravel  beds  everywhere  showed  values,  and  had 
gold  in  more  or  less  quantities,  but  the  chances  of  making 
a  big  cleanup  on  short  time  was  rare  now  in  comparison  to 
what  it  had  been  some  years  before. 

When  the  crowd  came  together  for  the  meeting,  it  soon 
became  evident  that  there  was  considerable  feeling  against 
Manning  and  Winters  for  selling  the  Gold  Run  property 
and  not  dividing  up  the  money  with  the  rest  of  them.  They 
seemed  to  think  that  the  property  should  have  been  kept  and 
worked,  so  that  they  should  all  have  had  a  chance  to  make 
something  out  of  it.  The  men  could  be  seen  talking  in 
groups  of  two  or  three  here  and  there,  before  the  meeting 
was  called  to  order. 

At  last,  Winters  succeeded  in  getting  them  all  in  the 
Golden  West  Company's  office.  As  soon  as  the  meeting  had 
been  called  to  order,  and  the  object  of  it  explained  to  them, 
Elmer  Jones  said: 

"Mr.  President,  I  make  a  motion  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  investigate  what  was  the  cause  of  selling  the 
Gold  Run  property  and  what  was  done  with  the  money  that 
was  received  from  the  sale  of  it." 

No  sooner  had  the  motion  been  made  than  half  a  dozen 
shouted,  "I  second  the  motion,"  from  different  parts  of  the 
room. 

The  chairman  then  replied,  "I  must  rule  that  the  motion 
is  out  of  order,  gentlemen.  That  property  did  not  belong 
to  any  of  you  men,  and  you  had  nothing  in  it  or  to  do  with 


194  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

it.  The  find  was  made  by  the  three  children  and  belonged 
to  them." 

"Yes,  but  it  was  turned  over  to  the  Golden  West  Mining 
Company,  and  I  am  a  director  of  that  company,  but  I  was 
not  consulted  in  the  sale  of  it,"  said  Jones,  with  considerable 
feeling. 

"The  property  belonged  to  Manning  and  me,  as  trustees 
for  our  minor  children,  and  does  not,  and  never  did,  'belong 
to  the  Golden  West  Mining  Company.  True,  we  organized 
a  company  and  were  going  to  work  that  property  by  the 
hydraulic  process,  but  we  had  never  transferred  the  prop 
erty  to  the  new  company  and  this  company  has  never  had 
a  meeting  since  its  charter  was  issued  by  the  state,  to  take 
the  property  over.  There  is  not  a  line  anywhere  on  the 
records  to  show  that  it  ever  belonged  to  the  company,  and 
when  we  saw  that  the  anti-debris  bill  was  going  to  become 
a  law  and  that  we  would  not  be  able  to  carry  out  our  plans, 
we  decided  to  sell  the  property,  and  did  so,  as  we  had  a  per 
fect  right  to  do." 

"It  looks  like  you  would  take  care  of  the  rest  of  us,"  re 
plied  Jones  in  a  sarcastic  way. 

"Mr.  Jones,  I  don't  think  you  have  any  room  to  talk  that 
way.  If  I  mistake  not,  you  have  one  thousand  dollars  in 
the  bank  to  your  credit,  out  of  the  returns  of  the  sale  of 
that  property,  and  you  never  put  one  red  cent  into  it,"  was 
the  stinging  reply  of  the  lawyer.  "Yes,  and  five  of  you  men 
were  on  that  property  for  two  days  and  said  there  was  noth 
ing  on  it.  You  left  there  in  disgust,  and  now  you  are  abus 
ing  us  for  selling  a  property  that  you  would  not  have  taken 
as  a  gift." 

When  several  of  the  rest  found  Jones  had  gotten  some 
thing  out  of  it  and  they  had  not,  their  anger  turned  against 
him  also,  for  he  had  said  nothing  to  them  about  that.  Then 
one  man  arose  in  the  audience  and  asked : 


THE  FLASH  OF  LIGHTNING 195 

"Why  did  Elmer  Jones  get  one  thousand  out  of  it  and 
the  rest  of  us  get  nothing?" 

"That  went  to  him  for  services,"  said  Winters,  "just  the 
same  as  we  paid  each  of  you  for  your  services  when  you 
were  guarding  the  property  the  two  days  you  were  there 
on  it.  The  truth  is  that  you  spent  all  your  time  there  dig 
ging  and  hunting  for  the  gold  that  you  were  hired  to  guard, 
and  when  you  found  none,  you  turned  the  property  down  as 
worthless.  If  you  had  found  our  gold,  I  suppose  we  would 
have  had  to  employ  some  one  to  make  you  give  it  up,  that 
which  belonged  to  us?"  to  which  no  one  replied,  and  after 
a  moment  of  silence,  Winters  continued: 

"In  organizing  our  company,  it  was  our  plan  to  take 
care  of  all  of  you  and  enable  each  of  you  to  make  some 
money  out  of  it.  We  promised  each  of  you  some  stock  in 
the  company,  and  we  are  still  willing  to  carry  out  that 
promise  to  you,  and  give  each  of  you  ten  thousand  shares  of 
stock,  of  a  par  value  of  one  dollar  per  share,  which  will 
take  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  shares  of  the  million, 
and  you  will  be  getting  it  for  nothing." 

"What  good  will  the  stock  be,  when  the  property  is 
gone?"  asked  Jones,  who  was  a  chronic  grumbler,  and  the 
rest  of  them  concluded  it  might  be  well  to  keep  an  eye  on  him. 

"I  see  you  do  not  understand  law  or  business,"  replied 
Winters.  "A  corporation  is  just  like  a  person,  with  the  same 
rights  and  privileges.  You  can  buy  a  farm,  then  if  you  sell 
it  you  can  buy  another  one,  can't  you?" 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply. 

"Well,  so  it  is  with  the  corporation.  It  can  buy  and  sell 
as  many  properties  as  its  officers  may  decide  is  best  for  it. 
We  expect  to  get  another  property  and  go  on  with  the  cor 
poration.  If  that  don't  turn  out  well,  we  can  take  another 
and  another,  until  we  do  make  it.  See?" 

"What  good  will  that  do,  when  the  law  prohibits  us  from 

13 


196  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

mining?"  demanded  Jones,  still  manifesting  some  feeling  of 
dissatisfaction. 

"That  law  only  prohibits  one  kind  of  mining,  the  hydraulic 
process.  There  are  plenty  of  quartz  veins  all  over  this  coun 
try  with  good  pay  dirt  in  them,  and  then  I  am  told  that 
there  are  plenty  of  places  where  these  ancient  channels  can 
be  worked  by  drift  gravel  process.  What  I  mean  by  that, 
is  to  work  in  under  the  lava  capping  by  drifting  on  the  bed 
rock  of  the  ancient  channels  and  take  out  the  richest  of  the 
gravel  and  wash  out  the  gold  from  that." 

"Have  you  any  property  in  view  for  the  company?"  asked 
some  one. 

"We  have  had  several  offered  to  us  which  we  have  not 
seen  yet,  but  I  called  this  meeting  to  determine  upon  a  plan 
of  procedure.  We  have  plenty  of  money  to  finance  a  propo 
sition  and  do  it  right,  but  we  must  be  sure  we  get  the  right 
kind  of  property.  We  don't  want  to  waste  this  money  on 
something  that  is  worthless;  so  what  we  decide  to  do  must 
be  done  only  along  the  safest  lines  possible.  Of  course,  there 
is  an  element  of  risk  in  all  of  these  speculative  enterprises. 
You  must  all  understand  that,  and  you  must  make  that  point 
clear  to  those  who  are  going  in  with  us.  We  stand  a  chance 
to  make  a  stake  if  the  mine  makes  good,  and  to  lose  our 
investment  if  the  property  proves  to  be  worthless.  No  one 
can  put  the  gold  into  a  property  if  it  is  not  there  already.  In 
going  into  this,  we  must  learn  to  be  just  as  good  losers  as 
winners.  You  know  every  one  despises  a  babyish  man,  who 
cries  over  spilled  milk." 

"Mr.  President,"  spoke  up  John  Sprouls  as  he  arose,  tug 
ging  at  his  beard,  "I  was  just  talkin'  with  a  man  from  Nevada 
City  camp  who  came  down  here  the  other  day,  and  is  spendin' 
some  time  here  financin'  a  proposition  of  his  own.  He  says 
that  he  knows  of  a  splendid  quartz  vein,  which  is  being 
worked  successfully  by  the  Champion  mine  there,  and  that 


THE  FLASH  OF  LIGHTNING 197 

this  vein  is  continuous  along  the  line  of  contact  for  some 
miles.  He  says  he  knows  of  a  number  of  good  claims  that 
can  be  had  on  this  contact  vein,  and  knows  where  it  has  been 
worked  and  is  being  worked  just  now,  and  he  says  the  yield 
is  splendid,  and  is  payin'  the  operators  well  on  their  invest 
ments.  I  suggest  that  we  send  a  party  of  three  up  there  to 
make  a  careful  investigation  of  the  vein,  and  make  a  report, 
before  we  act." 

"Is  there  anyone  here  who  knows  anything  about  quartz 
mining?"  asked  the  chairman.  "Personally,  I  don't  know  a 
thing  about  it." 

"I  know  more  about  it  than  I  know  about  gravel  mining," 
said  Sprouls.  "I  used  to  work  quartz  veins  back  in  old 
Missouri,  in  the  Ozarks,"  and  of  course  they  all  believed  him, 
knowing  him  as  they  did ! 

"Yes,  and  never  made  anything  out  of  it,  either,"  laughed 
Winters.  "You  will  find  this  a  different  proposition." 

"I  learned  the  business,  though,  and  the  only  reason 
I  didn't  make  anything  out  o'  it  was  because  the  values  were 
not  there.  If  this  is  a  good  vein  up  there  at  Nevada  City, 
and  the  values  are  there,  I  believe  I  could  tell  it  when  I 
examined  it." 

"Is  the  man  who  told  .you  of  this  vein  a  practical  mining 
man?  Does  he  understand  that  kind  of  mining?"  asked  the 
chairman. 

"He  says  he  does,  and  that  he  has  been  all  over  the  coun 
try,  visitin'  the  quartz  mines  in  Mexico  and  other  places. 
He  says  this  has  the  best  showing  that  he  has  seen  any 
where,  and  he  also  says  that  he  has  taken  up  a  section  of 
this  vein  and  is  goin'  to  erect  a  stamp  mill  on  his  property 
and  work  it.  He  said  that  for  a  small  fee  he  would  put 
us  in  touch  with  this  mine  and  give  us  all  the  information 
about  mining  that  he  can  to  help  us  in  gettin'  started,  when 
ever  he  kin  spare  the  time  away  from  his  own  property." 


198 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"If  it  is  agreeable  to  the  rest  of  you,"  said  the  chairman, 
"I  will  appoint  a  special  committee  to  go  and  make  an  inves 
tigation  and  report  to  us  two  weeks  from  today.  I  will  ap 
point  Manning,  Sprouls  and  Jones  upon  that  committee." 

"Understand  now,  folks,"  put  in  Manning,  "that  I  am 
not  a  mining  man  and  don't  know  a  thing  about  it.  I  am  a 
farmer,  and  have  purchased  a  farm  here,  and  am  going  to 
give  my  time  to  that.  I  will  work  with  you  and  do  all  I 
can  to  help  you,  but  I  will  not  take  any  position  that  will 
take  my  time  away  from  my  farm  work." 

"Do  you  mean  by  that,  that  you  have  made  your  stake, 
and  are  going  to  let  the  rest  of  us  make  ours  the  best  way 
we  can  alone?"  snapped  Jones. 

"Not  at  all,  Jones,"  replied  Manning,  quietly,  for  he  un 
derstood  Jones'  disposition.  "I  will  keep  my  place  on  the 
board,  and  assist  the  company  with  my  personal  means  if 
need  be,  but  so  far  as  my  going  up  there  and  taking  charge 
of  any  work  that  I  know  nothing  about,  I  will  not  do  it.  It 
takes  experienced  men  to  make  a  success  of  quartz  mining. 
I  wouldn't  know  values  in  a  rock  if  I  saw  it.  I  wouldn't 
know  how  to  set  up  a  single  piece  of  machinery,  or  know 
its  use  after  it  was  up.  You  see  what  a  clever  fellow  I 
would  be  at  that  sort  of  work." 

"Mr.  Manning  is  right  about  that,"  said  the  chairman. 
"I  am  told  by  the  bankers  that  there  are  a  lot  of  good  mines 
here  which  have  been  started  and  which  have  failed  because 
of  incompetent  management.  So  many  people  think  that  any 
farmer  or  laborer  can  manage  a  mine,  but  when  they  try  it, 
it  soon  turns  out  to  be  a  failure. 

"In  this  case,  we  want  men  who  can  make  this  thing  go 
from  the  start,  and  we  must  employ  some  one  who  under 
stands  quartz  mining  and  the  running  of  that  kind  of  ma 
chinery.  Don't  worry  about  Manning.  I  know  him  well 
enough  to  know  that  he  will  do  his  part  with  the  rest  of  us." 


THE  FLASH   OF  LIGHTNING 199 

"I  have  just  said  so,"  replied  Manning,  "but  for  me  to 
assume  any  responsibility  that  I  don't  know  anything  about, 
would  not  be  fair  to  the  people  who  are  investing  money  in 
this  enterprise,  and  if  it  failed  it  would  put  me  in  a  bad  light. 
It  is  different  with  Sprouls,  for  he  knows  something  about 
it,  and  with  the  help  of  an  engineer  he  would  do  well  at  it, 
for  he  likes  the  business.  I  will  make  the  trip  up  there  with 
him,  if  that  will  do  any  good,  and  we  will  go  in  my  rig,  so 
as  to  make  the  trip  in  short  order." 

Acting  upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Manning,  the  three 
men  were  chosen  to  go  up  to  the  mining  camp  at  Nevada 
City,  and  make  a  careful  investigation  of  several  properties 
that  they  had  heard  of  around  there,  and  also  at  Grass 
Valley.  They  were  to  employ  such  assistance  as  they 
thought  best,  and  if  they  found  anything  good,  they  were 
to  take  an  option  on  it  and  leave  it  for  the  company  to  take 
such  action  as  they  thought  best  upon  it. 

"Before  we  adjourn,  however,"  said  Winters,  "I  want  to 
know  if  all  of  you  are  satisfied  about  the  Gold  Run  proposi 
tion?  If  we  are  going  to  work  together  we  must  have 
harmony." 

No  one  said  a  word,  from  which  it  was  apparent  that  they 
were  all  satisfied. 

"I  suppose  you  are  aware  of  the  condition  we  would 
have  been  in  if  we  had  kept  the  property  ?"  continued  Winters. 
"Garner  bought  it  for  his  company,  and  they  have  never 
realized  anything  out  of  it  yet,  and,  furthermore,  they  never 
will  be  able  to  make  it  amount  to  very  much.  We  took  all 
of  the  coarse  gold,  and  I  figure  that  about  five  thousand 
dollars  may  be  washed  out  of  the  fine  gold  we  left  in  the 
sand.  They  may  wash  that  out,  but  there  can  be  no  more 
made  there  except  by  piping  off  the  gravel,  and  that  is  pro 
hibited  by  law.  Moreover,  it  has  cost  the  life  of  a  very  valu 
able  friend  and  a  most  useful  man,  who  was  shot  down  as 


200  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

he  was  carrying  out  orders  from  his  company.  Had  we  not 
sold  it,  that  property  would  be  an  elephant  on  our  hands 
today.  As  it  is,  the  men  who  found  it  got  something  out 
of  it,  and  none  of  the  rest  of  you  are  any  the  worse  off. 
You  have  no  call  for  any  grouch." 

"Well,  we'll  call  that  square,"  said  Jones,  "and  get  down 
to  business  on  this  new  proposition.  I  will  go  along  and  do 
what  I  can  to  help  get  it  started." 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SPIES 

"Well,  I  see  you  fellows  got  back  alive,"  said  Winters 
to  the  three  men  who  had  visited  the  mining  camps  in  search 
of  a  property  for  the  Golden  West  Mining  Company.  They 
had  just  returned,  and  were  entering  the  company's  office. 

"Yes,  we're  here,  and  mighty  glad  of  it,"  was  Henry 
Manning's  reply,  wiping  the  perspiration  from  his  face,  while 
John  Sprouls  filled  his  pipe  for  a  smoke. 

"Didn't  get  held  up  this  time,  did  you,"  asked  Winters 
with  a  laugh,  as  he  remembered  their  experiences  with  bandits 
the  fall  before. 

"No,  but  there  is  still  lots  of  that  business  going  on  up 
in  that  country.  There  was  a  big  robbery  while  we  were 
up  there." 

"What  kind  of  a  robbery?"  asked  the  lawyer  with  anxiety. 

"An  attempt  to  rob  the  superintendent  of  the  Malakoff 
mine,  as  he  was  coming  from  North  Bloomfield,  with  the 
bullion  from  a  cleanup."  ' 

"I  thought  mining  was  stopped  up  there?" 

"Most  of  it  is,  but  not  all  of  them  have  complied  with 
the  law  yet.  They  are  bringing  them  under  the  law,  though, 
as  fast  as  possible.  In  many  places  they  are  going  on  mining 
with  the  drift  gravel  process,  and  possibly  this  was  the  re 
turns  from  that  kind  of  mining.  I  did  not  learn,"  said  Man 
ning,  thinking  only  of  the  holdup. 

"Well,  go  on  and  tell  us  all  about  the  robbery,"  said  Win 
ters,  and  the  other  replied: 

"Well,  the  superintendent  was  bringing  in  the  bullion, 
and  when  he  and  his  driver  came  to  a  certain  place  on  the 
north  side  of  the  grade,  just  south  of  the  Yuba  river,  a 

201 


202 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

shot  rang  out  from  ambush,  and  the  superintendent  was  shot 
dead  in  the  buggy.  They  were  going  up  grade?  but  the 
driver  put  the  whip  to  the  horses,  knowing  that  he  would 
be  the  next  if  he  did  not  get  out.  The  horses  rounded  the 
turn  on  the  gallop,  and  before  the  bandits  could  get  a  bead 
on  him,  he  had  gained  perhaps  a  hundred  yards.  An  open 
space  gave  the  robber  the  range  he  wanted  and  he  tried 
to  shoot  down  the  horses,  and  did  shoot  one  in  the  shoulder, 
but  it  did  not  fall.  Instead,  the  horses  became  frightened 
and  were  soon  out  of  range  around  another  turn. 

"The  wounded  horse  continued  to  travel  a  mile  or  so 
before  he  fell,  but  by  that  time  a  farm  residence  had  been 
reached,  and  the  gold  was  saved.  The  superintendent  lost 
his  life  and  the  horse  died,  but  they  say  that  is  all  in  the 
game."  He  shook  his  head  at  the  latter  expression,  as  if 
to  say,  "To  the  farm  for  me." 

"That  is  exciting,  but  I  don't  fancy  I  would  like  much 
of  it  in  mine,  either.  I  feel  more  content  in  my  law  prac 
tice,"  replied  the  lawyer,  lighting  his  cigar. 

"So  would  most  any  one,  but  it  is  the  big  money  they 
make  out  of  mining  that  attracts  men  and  holds  them  to  it. 
A  fortune  is  taken  out  of  each  of  those  big  mines  every 
month,  Winters,"  put  in  Jones,  earnestly. 

"Sure,  that  was  what  we  heard,  and  that's  whv  we  came 
all  the  way  from  Kansas  City.  We  proved  that  it  was  so,  for 
we  made  ours  in  less  than  a  month,"  answered  the  lawyer, 
thoughtfully,  "but  what  did  you  find  up  there  for  the  Golden 
West  Mining  Company?" 

"We  took  an  option  on  the  Gideon  Mine,  but  we  have 
several  others  in  view  that  could  be  looked  into  if  this  one 
does  not  suit,"  continued  Manning. 

"Do  you  consider  this  one  a  good  proposition?" 

"One  of  the  very  best,"  said  John  Sprouls,  "and  there 
is  a  lot  of  them  up  there  that  are  making  a  pile  of  dust," 
tugging  at  his  beard  excitedly. 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SPIES 203 

"Tell  us  about  the  Gideon.  Mine,  its  condition,  holdings 
and  possibilities." 

"Well,  it  is  a  quartz  mine,  having  a  three-foot  vein  run 
ning  across  it,"  said  Sprouls,  puffing  on  his  old  corn  cob 
pipe.  "There  is  about  four  thousand  feet  of  the  vein  on  the 
property,  and  it  has  been  worked  some.  About  two  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  in  gold  has  been  mined  from  it,  which 
proves  its  worth.  It  has  a  shaft  down  about  three  hundred 
feet,  and  the  ore  runs  about  fifteen  dollars  per  ton.  It  costs 
about  five  dollars  for  mining  and  milling  it,  but  it  looks  good 
for  a  big  production." 

"Has  it  a  mill  for  saving  the  values  in  the  ore,  Mr. 
Sprouls?"  asked  the  lawyer. 

"It  hasn't  now.  That  will  have  to  be  erected,"  he  re 
plied,  taking  off  his  hat  nervously,  and  whirling  it  in  his 
hands. 

"Is  the  title  good  to  the  land?"  asked  the  lawyer. 

"There  are  seven  claims  of  twenty  acres  each  in  the  prop 
erty.  Five  of  these  have  U.  S.  Government  patents,  and  two 
are  held  by  location  under  the  mining  laws.  They  can  be 
patented  any  time  now." 

"What  will  be  the  cost  of  this  property?"  the  president 
asked. 

"Twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  payable  in  three  years,  all 
payments  coming  due  in  the  third  year,  but  a  royalty  of  ten 
per  cent  of  the  gross  output  of  the  mine  is  to  apply  upon 
the  purchase  price  of  the  property  until  paid  out,  and  if  the 
royalty  has  not  paid  it  out  by  that  time,  we  will  have  to  put 
up  the  money  and  pay  it  out  in  cash." 

"What  if  we  can't  pay  it  by  royalty,  and  can't  raise  the 
cash?"  asked  Winters,  looking  at  all  the  details  carefully. 

"We  would  have  to  give  it  up  then ;  that  is,  we  would 
lose  out  on  it  unless  the  people  would  give  us  more  time  on 
it,  and  I  think  they  will,"  replied  Sprouls,  as  he  put  his  hat 
back  on  his  head. 


204 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"If  this  is  such  a  good  property,  as  you  seem  to  think 
it  is,  why  can  it  be  bought  for  so  small  a  sum?  Why  don't 
the  people  continue  to  work  it?"  he  asked  thoughtfully. 

"Well,  because,  Mr.  Winters,  you  have  got  to  have  a 
man  who  understands  mining  to  handle  a  mine  like  that.  It 
has  got  to  be  worked  along  mining  lines,  and  this  mine  was 
operated  by  Eastern  people,  who  trusted  a  man  that  knew 
nothing  about  mining.  He  took  out  just  what  ore  was  in 
sight,  had  it  milled,  and  divided  up  the  money  among  the 
stockholders,  but  kept  nothing  for  development  work  or  ex 
penses.  With  all  the  ore  milled,  and  the  money  gone  to  the 
stockholders,  he  was  unable  to  develop  more  on  account  of 
lack  of  funds  and  the  lack  of  reserve  ore  to  finance  his 
operations.  When  he  called  upon  his  people  for  more  money, 
they  supposed  the  ore  was  all  mined  out,  and  refused  to 
put  any  more  into  it,  so  there  was  nothing  left  for  him  to 
do  but  to  shut  it  down  and  quit.  That  gave  the  mine  a 
bad  name,  and  it  decreased  in  value,  until  now  it  can  be 
had  for  twenty-five  thousand  dollars." 

Winters  listened  carefully,  and  then  asked,  "Do  you  think 
there  is  more  gold  there,  and  that  it  is  really  a  mine  of  true 
merit?  We  don't  want  anything  that  is  questionable." 

"Everybody  there  who  knows  it  has  but  one  opinion  of 
it.  Good  mining  men  tell  me  that  it  is  easily  good  for  a 
million  dollars." 

"Why  don't  some  of  them  take  it  then?"  asked  the  lawyer 
curiously. 

"Those  who  have  money  to  work  properties  with  have 
already  picked  up  something  and  are  at  work.  Those  who 
have  not  the  necessary  money  can't  buy  it,  no  matter  how 
good  the  property  is.  It  will  take  some  money  to  handle 
this  one." 

"I  see,  but  what  will  it  take  to  put  this  mine  upon  a 
paying  basis?" 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SPIES 205 

"It  will  have  to  have  a  stamp  mill,  for  one  thing.  We 
can't  get  our  ore  milled  by  custom  and  make  anything,  for 
we  would  have  to  take  anything  they  chose  to  give  us,  and 
that  is  usually  the  little  end  of  things.  We  couldn't  help 
ourselves,  and  they  know  it. 

"Then  the  mine  is  down  to  the  water  line,  and  pumps 
will  have  to  be  installed  to  keep  the  water  out  of  the  mine. 
I  would  suggest  that  we  put  in  all  the  men  that  we  can 
work  to  advantage  and  develop  the  mine,  and  get  at  least 
a  year's  milling  of  ore  blocked  out  before  we  erect  a  mill. 
In  that  way,  we  would  then  be  sure  that  there  was  a  mine 
there  before  we  go  to  the  expense  of  erecting  a  mill.  Then 
while  we  are  mining  this  ore,  that  we  have  in  sight,  we 
ought  to  have  men  going  ahead  and  developing  more  ore, 
keeping  it  in  sight  and  blocked  out  constantly,  to  insure 
a  year's  work  ahead  of  us  all  the  time. 

"In  that  way  we  would  never  be  caught  short  of  ore, 
and  would  not  have  to  close  the  mill  down  waiting  for  it. 
I  should  say  that  for  this  necessary  development  work, 
pumps,  mill,  etc.,  we  would  need  about  fifty  thousand  dol 
lars  in  our  working  fund,  and  I  understand  that  we  have 
got  almost  that  much  in  the  treasury  right  now,"  finished 
Sprouls,  whirling  his  hat  on  his  finger. 

"Yes,  that  is  true,  but  it  will  take  half  of  that  for  the 
payment  on  the  property,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"That's  so,  but  we  don't  have  to  pay  any  on  it  for  two 
years.  We  can  spend  our  money  on  the  development  of  the 
mine,  and  if  the  ore  is  not  there,  Mr.  Winters,  we  don't  have 
to  take  the  property,"  replied  Sprouls,  putting  his  Missouri 
hat  back  on  his  head. 

"Yes,  but  you  say  that  the  contract  requires  that  a  mill 
be  erected  on  it  the  second  year.  What  if  our  showing  will 
not  justify  expending  money  for  a  mill  by  that  time?" 

"We  won't  build  it  then.     If  we  can't  find  ore  enough 


206 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

to  justify  it  by  that  time,  we  won't  want  to  keep  the  prop 
erty  any  longer,  anyhow,"  said  Sprouls,  in  a  very  dignified 
way. 

"Well,  Sprouls,"  put  in  Henry  Manning,  seriously,  "sup 
pose  we  expend  what  money  we  have  received  from  our 
friends  on  this  proposition,  and  it  fails,  what  about  their 
money  then?" 

"It  is  gone,"  replied  the  lawyer,  before  Sprouls  could 
think  of  an  answer,  for  he  had  not  thought  of  that  point. 
"When  a  man  goes  into  a  mine  or  any  deal  of  a  specula 
tive  nature,  he  must  do  so  with  the  understanding  that 
it  is  a  speculation,  and  that  he  is  taking  a  chance.  If  the 
mine  makes  good,  he  wins;  if  it  fails  to  make  any  profits, 
he  loses.  The  question  is,  does  he  get  an  honest  run  for 
his  money?  If  he  does,  it  is  as  much  as  he  can  expect,  and 
if  he  loses,  it  can't  be  helped.  Most  men  understand  this, 
but  the  poor  losers  will  cry  like  a  baby  over  spilled  milk. 
I  hope  that  is  clear  to  all  of  you.  We  are  going  into  this 
thing  for  a  square  deal,  and  if  not,  you  can  count  me  out 
right  now." 

"That's  right,  Winters,"  said  Manning,  "I  stand  with  you 
right  there,  and  I  think  these  are  the  sentiments  of  the  rest 
also,  but  under  these  conditions  it  is  very  necessary  that  we 
be  careful  what  we  are  doing.  We  want  to  be  positive  that 
the  property  is  one  that  will  make  good,  and  then  do  our 
best  to  make  a  success,  not  so  much  for  our  own  sake 
as  for  the  sake  of  those  who  have  invested  their  money  in  it." 

"Did  you  consult  an  engineer  about  this  mine,  Manning, 
to  get  the  opinion  of  an  expert  at  this  business?"  asked  the 
business  head  of  the  company. 

To  which  Manning  replied :  "Yes,  we  called  in  Abraham 
Roe,  the  Government  Geological  Surveyor,  who  was  working 
in  the  vicinity,  and  asked  him  to  examine  it  for  us.  He  said 
it  was  worthy  of  our  efforts  and  the  expenditure  of  our 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SPIES 207 

money  to  develop  it,  if  used  in  the  right  direction  and  under 
proper  management.  I  should  consider  his  judgment  very 
weighty." 

"What  reasons  did  he  give  for  thinking  it  was  worthy 
of  development?" 

"He  said  this  mine  was  on  the  direct  line  of  contact  vein 
that  the  Champion  Mine  is  working,  and  they  have  taken 
out  several  millions  in  gold.  They  are  down  more  than  a 
thousand  feet  deeper  than  this  mine  is,  and  yet  the  Cham 
pion  has  plenty  of  ore  of  the  same  grade  that  the  Gideon 
has.  He  says  he  thinks  we  have  just  as  good  a  chance  here 
as  they  had." 

"I  am  satisfied  if  the  rest  are,"  said  Winters,  "to  take 
over  this  property  on  Mr.  Roe's  recommendation,  for  the 
Golden  West  Mining  Company,  and  go  to  work  on  it  at 
once.  I  suggest  that  Sprouls  be  put  in  charge,  but  that  he 
get  one  or  two  of  the  very  best  mining  men  that  can  be  had 
as  shift  bosses,  and  that  a  competent  engineer  direct  the 
actual  development  work,"  putting  his  glasses  on  and  pick 
ing  up  a  pen  to  draw  up  the  papers. 

Without  further  discussion  the  property  was  taken  over 
by  the  company,  and  Sprouls  and  Elmer  Jones  were  sent 
up  to  take  charge  of  it,  with  orders  to  push  the  work  for 
ward  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Henry  Manning  refused  to 
go,  as  he  had  his  farming  interests  to  look  after,  and  knew 
nothing  about  the  mining  business  anyway.  He  said  he  was 
not  adapted  for  that  kind  of  work. 

The  completion  of  the  railroad  gave  the  mining  people  a 
chance  to  get  the  heavy  mining  machinery  to  the  mines  from 
the  East,  and  this  started  a  boom  in  quartz  mining.  Every 
day  newcomers  came  in  from  the  East  and  other  places,  look 
ing  for  a  mining  location.  New  veins  were  found  and 
tested,  new  mines  were  opened  up  here  and  there,  so  that 
before  many  months  there  were  more  than  a  hundrd  quartz 


208 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

mines  in  operation  in  Nevada  County  alone,  most  of  which 
were  in  and  around  Grass  Valley  and  Nevada  City. 

Some  of  them  were  very  successful,  taking  out  millions 
upon  millions  in  gold,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  statistics  of 
the  Government  Geological  Survey.  This  was  what  is  called 
the  "Mother  Lode"  country,  the  veins  being  true  fissures, 
forced  up  from  the  molten  body  below.  They  were  con 
tinuous,  no  matter  how  deep  one  followed  them  down.  Some 
of  the  mines  were  worked  almost  a  mile  deep,  following  the 
dip  of  the  veins,  finding  good  ore  all  the  way  down.  It 
was  a  big  paying  proposition,  there  being  as  high  as  thirty- 
five  million  to  the  credit  of  one  single  mine's  production. 

The  Golden  West  Mining  Company  made  good  prog 
ress  with  the  work  upon  their  mine  during  the  year.  Con 
siderable  ore  was  located  and  blocked  out ;  therefore,  -it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  erect  the  stamp  mill  for  crushing  the 
ore  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  year.  New  pumps  were 
ordered  and  installed,  the  water  power  was  brought  to  the 
mine  for  running  all  the  machinery,  and  everything  gave 
promise  of  the  desired  success. 

The  Eastern  people  who  had  scraped  together  their  hard- 
earned  savings  and  sent  all  the  money  they  could  procure 
to  Mr.  Winters,  were  getting  uneasy  and  impatient  because 
they  were  not  getting  returns  sooner,  for  they  had  thought 
they  would  become  rich  in  a  short  time,  having  heard  how 
Henry  Manning  and  Jack  Winters  had  made  their  fortune 
in  a  week  after  arriving.  Winters  had  already  explained 
how  the  law  had  been  passed  which  prohibited  them  from 
working  the  gravel  mine  by  the  hydraulic  process,  and  how 
their  only  chance  now  was  in  this  quartz  mine,  which  they 
had  bought  for  the  company.  He  explained  that  it  took 
longer  to  get  a  quartz  mine  running,  and  that  the  work  went 
slower;  also,  that  more  expensive  machinery  had  to  be  put 
in  place  for  this  kind  of  work  than  for  hydraulic  mining. 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SPIES 209 

But  it  was,  for  the  most  part,  all  Latin  to  them.  Money 
and  lots  of  it  was  what  the  stockholders  wanted,  and  they 
wanted  it  quickly.  When  it  was  not  forthcoming,  they  be 
came  very  critical,  and  many  of  them  wrote  angry  letters, 
accusing  the  officers  of  all  kinds  of  fraud,  and  with  stealing 
their  money.  Many  demanded  the  immediate  return  of  their 
investment,  etc. 

Mr.  Winters  treated  them  all  very  nicely,  answering  every 
letter  and  explaining  the  process  and  the  time  required,  etc., 
but  some  of  them  refused  to  be  pacified.  They  wanted  their 
money  back,  and  nothing  else  would  satisfy  them.  Winters 
explained  that  it  was  invested  in  a  corporation,  and  that  it 
was  contrary  to  law  to  allow  anyone  to  pull  his  money 
out  just  when  he  wanted  to  or  was  dissatisfied. 

He  tried  to  get  them  to  rest  easy,  that  all  was  well  and 
that  in  due  course  of  time  they  would  all  win  out,  and  all 
get  good  returns  on  their  money.  Below  is  a  copy  of  many 
such  letters  sent  to  Jack  Winters  during  the  early  stages 
in  the  development  of  the  Golden  West  Mine : 

Ignorance,  Mo. 
MR.  JACK  WINTERS, 

Sacramento,   Cal. 

Dear  Sir : — I  want  you  to  send  back  to  me  my  two  dol 
lars  that  I  sent  you  for  your  gold  mine.  I  borrowed  that 
money,  and  have  to  pay  it  back;  besides,  I  am  sick  and  need 
money  badly  myself.  You  promised  big  things  in  your  mine, 
and  I  thought  you  was  honest;  and  if  you  don't  send  it  back, 
I  will  know  you  are  a  thief  and  trying  to  steal  my  money. 
When  the  big  things  did  not  come  I  knew  that  you  was  one 
of  them  schemers  taking  the  people's  money  for  nothing.  If 
you  don't  send  my  money  back  I  am  going  to  report  you  to 
the  Post  Office  Department  as  a  fraud. 

Yours  truly, 

BILL  COLDFEET. 


210  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Mr.  Winters  replied  to  this  letter  as  follows: 

Sacramento,  Cal. 
MR.  BILL  COLDFEET, 

Ignorance,  Mo. 

Dear  Sir: — Your  letter  relating  to  your  investment  in 
the  Golden  West  Mining  Company  is  at  hand,  and  in  reply 
will  say  that  I  see  you  are  not  well  acquainted  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  investment  and  speculation.  As  President  of  this 
company,  it  is  my  duty  to  keep  you  posted  as  to  the  business 
of  the  company  and  the  progress  it  is  making,  and  I  will 
also  try  to  enlighten  you  upon  the  things  I  see  you  do  not 
understand  about  this  business.  To  illustrate :  Suppose  that 
there  is  a  horse  race  in  your  neighborhood,  and  you  bet  two 
dollars  on  the  white  horse,  and  the  other  fellow  bets  a  like 
amount  on  the  black  horse.  His  horse  wins,  and  you  lose 
your  two  dollars.  Do  you  then  whine  about  it  and  cry  for 
your  money  back  ?  Or  if  your  horse  wins,  and  you  get  the 
money  and  the  other  fellow  cries,  do  you  give  him  back  his 
money?  You  are  a  fool  if  you  do. 

The  same  is  true  in  mining  or  any  investment  of  a  specu 
lative  nature.  You  put  your  money  in  it  to  win  or  lose,  just 
as  the  proposition  goes.  If  the  mine  makes  a  million,  you 
get  your  part  of  it.  If  it  makes  nothing,  you  get  nothing, 
and  if  you  are  a  man  you  will  take  your  loss  just  as  cheer 
fully  as  you  do  your  profits ;  but  if  you  are  a  baby,  you  will 
make  a  fuss  about  it. 

You  ask  me  to  send  your  money  back.  I  can't  do  that 
as  I  haven't  your  money,  and  I  never  did  have.  It  was  sent 
to  the  company,  and  was  used  at  the  mine,  doing  the  work 
there  and  putting  in  the  necessary  machinery.  The  mine 
belongs  to  the  company,  which  is  a  corporation,  and  the 
state  laws  govern  the  actions  of  the  officers  of  a  corpora 
tion.  No  officer  can  take  the  money  out  of  the  corporation 
to  pay  back  some  dissatisfied  stockholder,  for  the  laws  of 
the  state  will  not  permit  it.  If  that  could  be  done,  it  would 
bankrupt  any  corporation,  as  there  is  always  dissatisfied  peo 
ple  in  every  one  of  them.  The  stockholders  are  the  people 
who  have  the  say  about  any  one  pulling  out  of  it,  and  that 
takes  a  vote  of  a  majority  to  do  that. 

As   for  me  being  a  schemer,  I  must  admit  that  it  takes 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SPIES 211 

quite  a  lot  of  scheming  to  keep  a  lot  of  you  fellows  sweet 
until  we  can  get  this  mine  on  a  paying  basis.  You  two-cent 
fellows  want  dividends  in  fifteen  minutes  after  you  send  your 
money  in,  and  forget  that  it  takes  time  to  develop  a  mine, 
build  a  mill  and  get  everything  upon  a  paying  basis.  We 
have  one  stockholder  by  the  name  of  George  Garner,  who 
put  ten  thousand  dollars  in  this  company,  and  has  not  even 
asked  for  a  statement  of  its  doings.  He  understands  busi 
ness  and  knows  that  it  takes  time  to  do  things  upon  a  big 
scale.  He  does  not  annoy  us  when  we  are  doing  our  best 
to  get  it  to  going,  and  take  up  our  time  writing  him  letters, 
explaining  the  things  that  anyone  ought  to  know. 

So  far  as  reporting  me  to  the  Postal  authorities  is  con 
cerned,  I  will  say,  go  to  it,  if  you  think  you  have  a  case.  The 
Government  can  only  handle  people  for  fraudulent  use  of  the 
mails,  and  it  has  to  show  that  the  intentions  were  wrong  and 
that  fraud  was  actually  committed.  Where  a  business  is  run 
on  a  legitimate  basis,  such  as  this  one  is,  and  the  money 
actually  used  for  labor  and  machinery,  which  is  the  case  at 
our  mine,  the  Government  can't  arrest  a  man,  or  set  of  men, 
for  fraud.  We  have  the  work  done,  and  the  machinery  to 
show  for  it,  and  a  receipt  besides  for  every  dollar  expended. 
We  are  willing  to  have  it  investigated  any  time.  Besides,  it 
will  do  you  no  good  to  report  it  as  the  Government  cannot  get 
you  your  money  back.  It  only  prosecutes  the  criminal  for  the 
fraudulent  use  of  the  U.  S.  mails. 

But,  if  the  gold  doesn't  happen  to  be  in  the  rock,  we  can't 
put  it  there,  and^the  Government  will  not  require  us  to  do  so. 
It  is  an  honest  effort  that  we  are  required  to  give,  and  that 
is  What  we  are  giving.  We  are  convinced  that  we  have  a 
mine  here,  and  one  that  will  pay  dividends  to  the  stockholders 
in  due  course  of  time,  but  we  can't  pay  the  profits  until  we 
get  them  out  of  the  mine.  We  are  giving  it  an  honest  effort, 
and  are  pushing  it  along  as  rapidly  as  possible.  If  you  don't 
believe  me,  come,  or  send  some  one  here  and  investigate  it 
for  yourself.  Yours  truly, 

GOLDEN  WEST  MINING  COMPANY. 
By  JACK  WINTERS,  President. 

Thus  the  work  went  on  at  the  mine,  and  the  mill  was 
finally  completed,  notwithstanding  the  year  and  a  half  of 

14 


212 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

work  required  and  the  worry  it  had  taken,  not  to  mention 
the  many  abuses  that  had  come  from  those  who  had  invested 
their  money  in  it  and  wanted  quick  returns.  Winters  was 
trying  to  befriend  them  and  make  them  some  money.  He 
did  not  need  the  profits  for  himself,  as  he  had  a  good  law 
practice  with  the  best  classes  in  the  city,  and  a  good  chance 
of  becoming  Attorney  General  for  the  state,  or  even  Gov 
ernor,  if  he  wished.  He  was  simply  doing  this  for  the  sake 
of  his  friends  back  in  Missouri,  who  had  requested  him  to 
act  for  them,  yet  some  of  them  were  so  ungrateful  that  they 
refused  to  give  him  credit  for  honest  effort. 

At  last  the  mine  was  producing  large  quantities  of  ore, 
and  the  mill  was  running.  The  outlook  was  fine  for  big  re 
turns,  and  Winters  was  congratulating  himself  one  day  upon 
its  great  success,  when  a  well-dressed  stranger  walked  into 
his  office  and  asked  for  an  interview  with  him. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM 

The  first  year  of  the  college  course  of  the  young  people 
from  Sacramento  was  drawing  rapidly  to  an  end.  The  com 
mencement  programs  had  all  been  arranged,  and  largely  upon 
the  merits  and  ability  of  the  various  students  of  the  different 
classes.  James  Randall  had  been  selected  as  the  speaker 
in  the  oratorical  contest  to  represent  the  Freshman  class  of 
the  Liberal  Arts  course.  To  be  selected  as  the  orator  from 
such  a  large  class  was  no  small  honor  and,  while  it  greatly 
pleased  his  fellow  students  and  especially  Lew  and  Myrtle, 
yet  there  was  a  tinge  of  bitterness  in  it  for  Jim.  His  cloth 
ing  was  not  suitable  for  the  occasion,  and  yet  it  would  hurt 
him  dreadfully  to  decline  the  place  which  had  been  so 
worthily  won  by  him.  What  he  was  going  to  do  about  it, 
he  did  not  know.  All  during  the  year  he  had  refrained  from 
taking  part  in  the  various  social  functions,  simply  because 
he  did  not  have  the  money  to  bear  the  expenses,  or  the  clothes 
suitable  for  the  occasions.  While  it  was  a  source  of  great 
regret  to  him,  yet  it  was  ,a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  he  put 
more  of  his  time  upon  his  books  while  the  other  students 
enjoyed  the  social  features  of  the  school,  sometimes  to  the 
neglect  of  their  studies.  Thus  the  honors  fell  where  they 
belonged. 

As  soon  as  young  Manning  heard  that  Jim  had  been  ap 
pointed  to  this  honored  position,  he  hastened  to  tell  the  news 
to  Myrtle. 

"I'm  sure  you  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  Jim  has  been 
selected  orator  by  his  class  and  is  to  speak  at  the  oratorical 
contest  class  day.  Daddy  will  be  glad  to  hear  it,  too,  as  he 
was  instrumental  in  getting  Jim  the  scholarship." 

213 


214 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Is  that  right,"  she  cried,  with  joy.  "I'm  glad  to  see  him 
get  it,  aren't  you,  Lew?  He  certainly  earned  it,  he  stayed 
at  home  and  studied  so  much." 

"Yes,  but  do  you  know  why  he  stayed  at  home  so  much, 
Myrtle?" 

"Oh,  he  has  always  been  such  a  studious  boy,"  was  her 
reply,  not  understanding  what  Lew  meant. 

"That's  not  it.  When  it  comes  to  ball  games  or  anything 
in  which  good  clothes  don't  count,  Jim  is  not  so  studious,  or 
slow,  either." 

"You  don't  mean  that  it  has  been  a  lack  of  good  clothes 
that  has  made  him  stick  to  his  room  and  his  books  so  close, 
do  you?"  she  demanded. 

"You're  right,  and  I'm  wondering  if  he  will  be  compelled 
to  appear  upon  that  platform  in  that  old  dingy  suit  he  has 
worn  all  year?" 

"Oh,  he  surely  has  a  Sunday  suit,  don't  you  think?" 

"No,  he  hasn't,  for  he  told  me  some  time  ago  himself 
that  he  didn't,  when  I  asked  him  to  go  with  me  to  our  class 
entertainment,"  Lew  said  sadly. 

"Poor  boy.     Don't  he  get  any  help  from  his  people?" 

"Not  to  amount  to  anything.  He  told  me  that  his  father 
was  dead,  and  that  his  mother  had  three  other  children,  so 
she  has  to  take  in  washing  to  take  care  of  them.  He  never 
has  any  pocket  money  to  spend  like  the  rest  of  us,  and  for 
that  reason  I  have  paid  his  way  a  number  of  times  to  lectures 
and  places  that  I  knew  he  ought  to  attend.  All  the  money 
he  has  is  what  little  he  can  make  doing  odd  jobs  and  work 
ing  on  Saturdays  and  holidays." 

"It  was  thoughtful  in  you  to  help  him  the  way  you  have. 
He  is  a  bright  boy,  and  if  he  is  permitted  to  finish  his  course, 
he  will  make  something  out  of  himself  when  the  opportunity 
comes." 

Nothing  more  was  thought  or  said  about  young  Randall, 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM  215 

or  his  part  in  the  program,  and  so  the  time  went  by  until 
just  the  day  before  commencement.  Then  Myrtle  remem 
bered  their  talk  about  him  and,  calling  a  messenger  boy, 
she  gave  him  a  note  directed  to  Jim  Randall,  with  instructions 
to  bring  Jim  back  with  him  without  fail. 

The  messenger  had  some  difficulty  in  finding  Jim's  room, 
for  it  was  one  of  the  cheapest  to  be  had,  and  in  an  out-of-the- 
way  place,  but  at  last  he  rapped  at  the  door,  and  when  it 
was  opened  he  handed  Jim  the  note,  who  took  it  and  read: 
"Mr.  Randall,  will  you  please  meet  me  at  once?  I  want  to 
see  you  upon  a  very  urgent  matter.  The  boy  will  show 
you  over.  Myrtle." 

Jim  was  very  much  flustered  over  the  hasty  call.  In  his 
heart  he  didn't  want  to  refuse,  as  it  was  the  first  time  he  had 
ever  been  invited  to  meet  a  young  lady,  and  especially  one 
that  he  admired  above  all  other  girls. 

He  stood  looking  at  the  note,  and  then  at  the  messenger, 
and  then  at  the  work  he  had  been  doing,  for  he  had  donned 
his  working  clothes  and  was  cleaning  and  pressing  his  suit 
upon  the  table.  He  had  borrowed  an  iron  from  his  land 
lady  for  the  express  purpose  of  getting  his  suit  in  shape  for 
the  program  on  the  following  day.  At  the  best,  it  would  not 
look  very  good,  but  it  was  all  he  had.  At  last  he  said: 

"You  tell  Miss  Winters  that  I  can't  come  just  now,  but 
I'll  be  there  in  half  an  hour." 

"Yis,  but  she  said  for  youse  ter  come  back  wid  me,  right 
away,  er  she'd  tie  er  tin  can  ter  me.  I'm  ter  show  youse  de 
way." 

"That's  all  right,  boy,  but  you  see  I  am  pressing  my  suit 
here,  and  I  have  to  finish  it  first,  for  I  have  to  wear  it  over 
to  see  Miss  Winters,"  said  Randall.  "As  soon  as  I  get  it 
finished,  I  will  go  right  over.  I  can't  wear  these  rags  to 
see  a  lady  like  her." 

"De  loidy's  goin'  out,  and  can't  wait  no  half  hour.    Youse 


216 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

put  your  glad  rags  on  and  come  wid  me  before  I  climb  yer 
frame.  She's  in  a  hurry,  er  she  wouldn't  'a  sent  me.  Youse 
kin  do  dat  work  tonight,"  and  the  messenger  halfway  smiled 
as  he  said  it,  for  he  was  thinking  to  himself  that  he  wouldn't 
go  to  see  a  lady  in  those  clothes.  Then  he  continued: 
"Youse  oughter  see  de  gal,  she's  a  pippin,  den  youse  wouldn't 
be  so  slow  gettin'  over  dere.  Why,  she's  got  a  face  like  one 
o'  dem  dare  engels.  I'd  like  fer  some  swell  skirt  like  dat 
ter  send  fer  me." 

"You  are  quite  right,  boy,  and  it's  not  because  I  don't 
want  to  go,  goodness  knows,  but  you  see  the  fix  I'm  in.  I 
have  so  much  to  do  for  tomorrow,  and  I  must  be  ready." 

"Let  de  woik  go,  but  hold  onter  de  gal,"  was  the  reply. 
Then  he  added,  "Gee,  but  she's  a  peach!" 

Jim  laughed  at  the  boy,  and  then  placed  the  iron  back 
on  the  stove  and  asked  the  boy  to  wait  in  the  hall  until  he 
could  dress,  and  he  would  be  right  out. 

Soon  they  were  walking  in  the  direction  of  the  girl's 
dormitory,  Jim  with  one  trouser  leg  carefully  creased  and 
the  other  bagging  at  the  knee.  Myrtle  met  them  at  the  door, 
and  the  messenger  said,  "I  finally  got  de  old  lemon  peel  ter 
come,  but  he  didn't  want  to,  cause  he  was  ironin'  his  pipe- 
stems,  and  he's  only  got  one  of  dem  done,  but  I  told  de  guy 
dat  he  oughter  go  when  a  kiddo  like  youse  sends  fer  a  feller, 
no  matter  if  one  of  his  pantlegs  does  look  like  it  had  been 
used  as  a  baloon." 

Jim  was  mortified  almost  to  death,  but  Myrtle,  being  a 
girl  of  tact,  just  smiled  at  the  glib  tongue  of  the  messenger 
boy.  She  extended  a  very  cordial  greeting  to  the  young  man, 
and  tipped  the  grinning  messenger  boy  as  he  left. 

Then  Jim  began,  "I  want  to  beg  your  pardon,  Miss  Win 
ters,  for  being  so  slow,  but  I  was  getting  ready  for  tomorrow, 
and  was  not  expecting  a  call  this  afternoon.  I  knew  it  must 
be  urgent,  though,  or  you  wouldn't  have  sent  for  me." 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM  217 

"And  so  it  is,  Jim,  for  I  am  in  a  peck  of  trouble.  I 
thought  perhaps  you  would  be  willing  to  do  me  a  favor,'' 
and  his  face  brightened  to  think  that  she  should  call  on  him. 
He  replied  joyfully: 

"I  certainly  will,  Miss  Winters.    What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"I  have  got  to  go  to  the  store  to  buy  a  present  for  a 
representative  of  our  department,  and  I  have  been  so  un 
decided  as  to  what  I  ought  to  get  that  boy,  so  I  thought  I 
would  ask  your  advice.  I  thought  you  would  not  mind  ac 
companying  me  to  the  store,  and  I  knew  that  your  judgment 
was  good.  You  are  about  his  size,  too." 

He  blushed,  stammered,  and  finally  replied,  "It  will  give 
me  great  pleasure  to  accompany  you,  Miss  Winters,  if  you 
will  excuse  the  appearance  of  my  suit  in  its  half  pressed 
condition,  and  if  you  think  that  you  will  not  be  ashamed  of 
me?" 

"Jim,  you  must  not  talk  that  way  to  me.  I  care  noth 
ing  for  one's  clothing  if  it  is  the  best  he  has,  and  he  is 
a  man  in  other  respects.  It  was  you  that  I  sent  for,  and 
not  for  fine  clothes.  I  know  you,  Jim,  and  knew  you  would 
not  refuse  to  accompany  me  down  the  street  on  this  little 
mission." 

"That  is  kind  of  you,.  Miss  Winters,"  feeling  greatly 
honored. 

"Now,  we  will  be  right  off,  so  as  not  to  cause  you  any 
loss  of  time,  and  I  thank  you  for  not  refusing  me,"  she 
said,  with  mischief  in  her  eyes. 

"I  couldn't  do  that.  You  have  always  been  my  ideal 
of  what  a  young  lady  ought  to  be,  but  I  never  expected  to 
get  a  chance  to  tell  you  so.  You  and  Lew  are  such  good 
friends,  that  I  half  expected  to  hear  of  something  doing  as 
soon  as  you  get  out  of  the  university." 

Myrtle  laughed  and  said,  "Nothing  like  that  on  the 
horizon,  Jim,  that  I  know  of." 


218 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

They  were  walking  towards  the  business  section  of  the 
city,  when  they  came  to  a  gents'  furnishing  establishment,  and 
Myrtle  said,  "Let's  go  in  here  for  a  moment,  as  I  want  to 
get  you  a  nice  handkerchief  for  tomorrow,"  which  so  sur 
prised  young  Randall  that  he  did  not  answer  her  for  a  few 
moments,  but  walked  in  with  her.  Finally,  he  said: 

"You  are  joking  me,  Miss  Winters,  aren't  you?" 

"Yes,  Jim,  I  am.  If  I  couldn't  give  you  anything  better 
than  a  handkerchief  when  you  have  won  such  honors, 
I  wouldn't  give  you  anything.  I  want  you  to  know  that  I 
appreciate  your  efforts  and  I  believe  that  you  will  carry  off 
the  first  place  in  this  contest  tomorrow.  If  you  do  there 
will  not  be  a  person  in  the  university  more  proud  of  you 
than  I." 

"Why,  Miss  Winters,  Lew  is  on  the  program,  too,"  great 
ly  surprised. 

"That  is  true,  and  he  is  a  bright  student  in  the  engineer 
ing  department,  but  he  is  not  an  orator  like  yourself,  and 
he  has  no  hopes  of  winning  the  laurels." 

"It  is  kind  of  you  to  think  of  me,  then,  and  wish  me 
the  good  fortune,"  he  said,  looking  at  her  to  see  if  she  really 
meant  it. 

She  continued,  "And  that  is  why  you  are  here  with  me 
just  now,  Jim.  I  believe  you  are  going  to  win  it,  and  I 
know  what  a  hard  time  you  have  had  to  get  through  the 
school  year.  I  think  I  know  how  you  feel  about  your  cloth 
ing,  and  I  didn't  want  you  to  win  that  prize  tomorrow  and 
then  have  it  all  spoiled  for  you  by  the  knowledge  that  you 
had  to  appear  in  your  old  suit.  Please  accept  this  small 
gift  from  my  father,  who  has  become  very  much  interested 
in  you  and  wished  to  help  you  in  your  worthy  efforts."  Then 
turning  to  the  storekeeper,  who  had  just  come  to  wait  on 
them,  she  said  as  she  handed  him  a  twenty  dollar  gold  piece, 
"Will  you  please  take  this  and  fit  this  young  man  out  with 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM 219 

the  best  suit  it  will  buy?  He  has  won  great  honors  at  the 
university,  and  must  appear  on  the  program  tomorrow  as 
one  of  the  orators  in  the  contest.  His  father  is  dead,  and 
he  has  to  get  along  the  best  way  he  can,  so  I  decided  to  help 
him,  and  sent  home  to  my  father  telling  him  what  I  wanted 
to  do,  and  he  sent  me  this  money." 

"Oh,  Miss  Winters,"  said  Randall,  all  confused,  and  with 
his  face  red  and  hot.  "How  gracious  and  thoughtful  that 
was  of  you.  But  who  am  I  that  you  should  be  so  kind  to 
me?  I  can't  let  you  do  this  for  me." 

"Not  a  word,  Jim.  I  want  to  see  you  carry  off  the  honors 
tomorrow,  and  I  know  that  you  would  not  do  yourself  justice 
if  you  were  worrying  about  your  old  clothes.  Please  accept 
this  little  token  from  my  father  and  me,  and  tomorrow,  when 
you  win  the  prize,  remember  that  there  will  be  no  one  in  the 
university  who  will  be  prouder  of  you  than  I  am." 

"Well,  then,  I  will  accept  it  for  your  sake,  Miss  Winters, 
but  some  day  I  will  see  that  you  are  well  repaid  for  coming 
to  the  rescue  of  a  poor  boy  who  was  upon  the  verge  of  doing 
something  dreadful,"  he  said,  covering  his  face  with  his  hat. 

"Oh,  I  hope  nothing  like  that,  Jim?" 

Then  he  explained,  "Really,  I  was  so  worried  about  it 
that  I  was  tempted  to  go  home,  for  I  knew  everyone  would 
be  ashamed  of  me  in  my  old  suit  that  I  have  worn  all  year. 
I  knew  that  it  would  be  bad  for  me  to  continue  my  course 
if  I  did,  but  it  worried  me  awfully." 

"Jim,  you  must  not  be  so  sensitive  about  your  clothes. 
Everyone  knows  your  circumstances  and  has  respect  for  you. 
None  of  the  faculty,  or  even  the  wealthier  class  of  students, 
would  think  of  such  a  thing  as  making  fun  of  your  clothing. 
It  worried  you  more  than  anyone  else." 

"I  will  try  to  be  worthy  of  your  esteem,  Miss  Winters, 
but  it  is  no  use  for  me  to  try  to  express  my  gratitude  for 
your  kindness  and  thoughtfulness  toward  me,  and  also  that 


220 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

of  your  father.  I  could  not  find  words  to  express  my 
appreciation." 

"Now,  I  will  go  down  the  street  to  do  a  little  shopping," 
said  Myrtle,  "and  I  will  call  back  here  for  you  in  half  an 
hour.  By  that  time  you  will  have  picked  out  the  suit  you 
want  and  put  it  on,  so  as  to  be  sure  that  it  is  a  perfect  fit. 
Then  I'll  see  how  it  looks  on  you,"  and,  without  waiting 
for  a  reply,  she  hurried  out  the  door. 

"Who's  your  friend?"  asked  the  storekeeper,  turning  to 
Randall. 

"That,  sir,  is  Miss  Winters,  of  Sacramento.  She  is  one 
of  the  students  here  at  the  university." 

"Believe  me,  young  man,  it  means  something  to  have  a 
friend  like  that?  They  must  be  wealthy  people,"  he  replied, 
turning  to  a  pile  of  suits. 

Jim  said,  "Her  father  made  a  killing  in  the  mining  busi 
ness  and  got  his  start,  and  then  got  in  with  the  right  kind 
of  people  in  Sacramento  when  he  first  came  there.  He  is 
a  good  lawyer  and  soon  had  all  his  clients  from  the  better 
classes,  and  now  enjoys  the  best  of  success  in  his  work. 
Yes,  and  he  is  already  talked  of  as  a  possible  candidate  for 
Attorney  General  of  the  state." 

"Are  you  the  young  man  who  is  to  represent  the  Fresh 
man  class  in  the  oratorical  contest  tomorrow?"  asked  the 
clothier,  with  unusual  interest. 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  frank  reply,  for  he  was  proud  of  it. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  to  meet  you,  for  my  son  is  in  that  class, 
too.  He  wanted  the  honor  himself,  and  was  much  put  out 
at  the  thought  of  not  getting  it,  but  When  he  found  it  was 
you  it  was  all  right.  He  thought  it  would  be  some  of  the 
rich  students  who  would  get  it,  but  he  said  there  was  no 
one  in  the  class  more  worthy  of  the  honors  than  you  are." 

"What  is  your  son's  name?"  Jim  asked,  wondering  who 
the  boy  could  be. 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM  221 

"Raymond  George,"  and  Jim  exclaimed: 

"Oh,  I  know  him  well,  and  a  better  boy  is  not  to  be  found 
in  the  school." 

"You  are  having  some  difficulty  in  making  your  way 
through  the  university,  aren't  you?"  asked  the  merchant,  as 
he  began  pulling  down  the  suits,  looking  for  something 
worthy  the  occasion. 

"Oh,  I  did  think  so,  but  I  guess  it's  not  so  bad  after  all, 
when  I  have  friends  like  Miss  Winters." 

"Yes,  but  you  can't  depend  upon  her  keeping  this  up. 
There,  how  would  a  suit  like  that  be?"  and  he  got  down  one 
of  the  very  best  suits  he  had  in  the  store. 

"Oh,  my,  a  suit  like  that  would  be  simply  great,  but  it 
is  worth  more  than  twenty  dollars,  isn't  it,  Mr.  George?" 
feeling  the  texture  of  the  cloth. 

"We  aren't  looking  at  prices  now,  we  must  please  that 
young  lady,"  replied  the  merchant,  "and  if  you  are  to  win  the 
contest  tomorrow,  as  she  is  expecting  you  to  do,  I  want  you 
to  be  the  best  looking  fellow  on  the  platform." 

"It  looks  as  if  I  had  another  good  friend  in  you,  too," 
said  Jim,  with  a  smile,  slipping  off  his  old  coat  and  putting 
the  new  one  on. 

"And  so  you  have.  If  .there  is  anyone  I  will  put  myself 
out  of  the  way  to  help,  it  is  a  worthy  young  man  who  is 
trying  to  make  something  out  of  himself.  Now  let  me  tell 
you  one  thing.  Never  shirk  a  duty,  and  never  allow  any 
thing  to  induce  you  to  spoil  a  program  by  your  absence,  as 
I  heard  you  say  you  were  tempted  to  do.  That  would  ruin 
you  for  the  rest  of  your  course  here.  Now,  if  you  ever  get 
in  a  tight  place  like  this  again,  come  to  me  and  I  will  give 
you  time  on  a  suit.  I  wouldn't  be  afraid  to  trust  a  boy  like 
you,  for  I  know  you  would  pay  for  it  some  time,  and  I'm 
not  afraid  but  that  a  boy  who  works  his  way  through  school 
under  such  difficulties  will  make  a  success  when  he  gets 


222 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

through,"  he  said,  stopping  to  examine  the  fit  of  the  coat 
carefully. 

"That  coat  just  fits  you,  and  it's  good  enough  to  be  worn 
by  one  of  the  professors.  Do  you  think  that  will  do?" 

"I  am  pleased  with  it,  if  it  suits  Miss  Winters,"  proudly 
replied  Jim. 

"Well,  I  think  it  will.    What  size  shirt  do  you  wear?" 

"Number  fifteen,"  wondering  if  he  was  to  get  a  shirt,  too. 

Mr.  George  took  down  a  boiled  shirt,  and  said,  "Here, 
take  this  shirt  and  the  trousers,  and  put  them  on  there  in 
the  dressing  room.  She  will  be  back  soon." 

Jim  soon  had  on  the  shirt  with  a  glossy  starched  bosom. 
He  had  been  wearing  soft  front  shirts,  that  he  could  wash  and 
iron  himself.  Then  the  storekeeper  brought  him  an  up-to- 
date  collar  and  tie  to  match,  and  when  the  coat  and  vest 
were  donned,  Jim  looked  into  the  glass  and  said: 

"Now  we  are  ready  for  Miss  Winters  to  return." 

The  storekeeper  looked  him  all  over,  to  be  sure  that  every 
thing  fit  exactly.  Presently  he  happened  to  notice  that  Jim's 
shoes  were  badly  worn,  and  not  in  keeping  with  the  rest  of 
his  new  outfit,  so  he  said: 

"Not  quite.     What  size  shoe  do  you  wear?" 

"Sevens,  but  you  can't  put  them  in,  too,  can  you,"  he 
asked,  rather  confused. 

"No,  I  can't,  but  I'm  going  to  anyhow.  We  can't  afford 
to  have  this  thing  spoiled  with  those  old  shoes  you  have  on," 
and  he  went  over  and  got  down  a  pair  of  patent  leathers, 
as  black  and  shiny  as  the  face  of  a  typical  African. 

"There,  put  those  on,"  he  continued,  at  the  same  time 
throwing  a  pair  of  silk  hose  over  to  the  seat  where  the  young 
man  was  trying  to  hide  the  holes  in  his  old  ones.  Jim 
blushed  again,  but  never  said  a  word,  for  he  knew  that  they 
were  needed  to  complete  his  outfit.  While  he  was  lacing  his 
shoes,  the  storekeeper  went  over  to  the  window  and  picked 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM  223 

out  a  straw  hat  in  the  latest  style,  and  placed  it  upon  Jim's 
head. 

"Now  I  guess  we  are  ready  for  the  young  lady  to  come," 
he  said. 

They  did  not  have  to  wait  long,  for  she  came  back  prompt 
ly  at  the  end  of  the  half  hour.  When  she  caught  a  glimpse 
of  Jim,  she  exclaimed : 

"Oh,  Jim,  how  perfectly  splendid  you  look!  And  what 
a  fit!"  Coming  closer,  she  took  hold  of  the  cloth  and  felt 
of  its  texture.  Then  she  said,  "You  don't  mean  to  tell  me 
that  this  suit  is  only  twenty  dollars,  do  you?"  turning  to  the 
merchant. 

"I  was  not  looking  at  the  price,  Miss  Winters,"  he  re 
plied.  "I  heard  you  say  you  expected  this  young  man  to 
win  the  contest  tomorrow,  and  I  thought  we  needed  some 
thing  worthy  of  the  occasion.  I  expect  to  be  there  myself, 
and  if  this  boy  wins  the  honorsj  nothing  in  my  store  is  too 
good  for  him." 

"I  want  to  thank  you,  Mr.  George.  I  see  we  have  made 
no  mistake  in  coming  here,  and  we  will  certainly  advertise 
your  store  among  the  students,"  said  Jim.  "I  am  sorry  now 
that  I  won  the  place  away  from  your  son." 

The  clothier  laughed,  but  said  nothing.  Myrtle  turned 
around  and,  looking  at  the  storekeeper,  said,  "Is  this  the 
father  of  Raymond  George?" 

"Yes,"  said  Jim. 

"And  he  is  helping  his  son's  rival?" 

"Not  that,  Miss  Winters,"  exclaimed  Mr.  George,  "I  am 
just  helping  a  worthy  young  man  the  same  as  you  are.  I 
have  no  more  interest  in  him  than  you  have;  that  is,  than 
I  think  you  have.  Raymond  is  more  than  pleased  to  know 
that  Jim,  here,  got  the  place,  rather  than  some  of  the  rich 
boys." 

"Well,  we'll  hope  your  son  wins  the  honors  next  year," 


224: WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

she  said  sweetly.  Then,  turning  to  Jim,  she  said,  "Mr. 
Randall,  you  had  the  pleasure  of  my  company  down  here, 
may  I  have  the  pleasure  of  yours  back  to  the  dormitory? 
I  am  sure  that  you  won't  feel  ashamed  to  be  seen  in  my  com 
pany  now."  Both  Jim  and  the  storekeeper  gave  a  hearty 
laugh. 

"It  will  be  the  joy  of  my  life,  Miss  Winters,"  and  a 
prouder  boy  never  walked  the  streets  of  Berkeley  than  Jim 
Randall,  as  he  took  the  young  lady  to  her  room. 

"I  will  see  you  tomorrow,  Jim.  Good-by,"  and  she 
extended  her  hand,  but  he  did  not  answer  her,  and,  looking 
into  his  face,  she  saw  the  tears  chasing  each  other  down  his 
cheeks. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  Jim?" 

"Suppose  I  don't  win  tomorrow,  then  you  would  dislike 
me,  and  I  should  be  unworthy  of  your  kindness." 

"If  you  do  your  best  and  fail,  I  should  think  none  the 
less  of  you.  I  know  that  there  are  eleven  speakers,  and  they 
can't  all  win." 

"I  shall  certainly  do  my  best,"  bracing  up  like  a  man. 

"Anyone  battling  through  the  hardships  which  you  have 
had  to  undergo,  is  not  likely  to  fail.  Just  forget  everything 
else,  and  go  into  it  with  the  determination  that  you  are  going 
to  win,  and  dismiss  all  fear  that  you  won't.  You  will  win 
it,  all  right." 

"I  thank  you  for  your  helpfulness,  and  I'll  try  to  profit 
by  it.  Good-night,  Miss  Winters." 

"Good-night,  Jim,"  she  said,  turning  to  go  into  her  room, 
feeling  the  happiest  she  had  been  in  a  long  time,  for  she 
had  helped  a  worthy  boy. 

Jim  hurried  back  to  his  room  and  removed  his  suit  to 
keep  it  fresh  and  new  for  the  following  day.  When  he  re 
tired  that  night,  a  great  burden  was  lifted  from  his  heart, 
for  he  knew  now  that  he  could  appear  upon  the  program 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM  225 

the  next  day  looking  as  respectable  as  any  of  the  other 
speakers.  He  also  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he 
had  some  friends,  for  a  short  time  before  he  had  thought 
the  world  cold  and  selfish. 

Myrtle  did  not  tell  Lew  anything  about  her  intention  to 
help  Jim,  and  while  Lew  had  a  great  admiration  for  Randall, 
yet  it  had  not  occurred  to  him  to  do  as  Myrtle  had  done, 
although  he  knew  that  Jim  would  have  to  appear  upon  the 
platform  in  the  same  old  dingy  suit  he  had  worn  all  year. 

The  next  day,  promptly  at  the  appointed  hour,  Jim 
Randall  was  in  his  place  upon  the  platform  neatly  clad  in 
his  new  clothes,  and  with  such  a  dignified  look  that  the 
others  hardly  knew  him.  He  had  the  third  place  upon  the 
program,  and  as  the  first  two  who  spoke  were  not  very  fluent 
speakers,  the  audience  was  not  greatly  impressed.  When 
the  name  of  James  Randall  was  called,  the  students  all  ap 
plauded  loudly,  for  they  knew  of  the  struggle  he  had  had  in 
making  his  own  way,  but,  of  course,  the  judges  knew  noth 
ing  of  his  circumstances.  When  Jim  stood  up,  Lew  caught 
sight  of  his  new  suit  for  the  first  time,  and  he  could  scarce 
ly  believe  his  eyes. 

Jim  stepped  out  without  the  least  timidity  and  with  per 
fect  confidence  began  his  oration.  His  clear  voice,  distinct 
pronunciation,  and  flights  of  eloquence  soon  had  the  atten 
tion  of  his  audience.  One  could  hear  the  words  whispered 
all  over  the  room,  "He's  a  winner!"  "Can't  beat  that,"  etc. 
Thus  he  held  his  audience  to  the  end,  perfectly  at  ease  upon 
the  floor. 

When  he  had  finished,  a  great  applause  went  up  for  him 
from  every  quarter  of  the  great  auditorium.  When  Myrtle, 
who  had  been  giving  more  than  usual  attention  to  this  one 
case,  whispered  to  the  storekeeper,  who  was  sitting  near  her, 
that  she  was  satisfied  with  the  effort  he  had  made,  whether 
he  was  counted  as  the  winner  by  the  judges  or  not,  Mr. 


226  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

George  replied  that  "it  might  be  well  to  keep  an  eye  upon 
him,  for  he  had  in  him  the  making  of  a  great  orator." 

Later  on  in  the  program  Lew  Manning's  name  was 
called.  His  production  was  very  carefully  prepared,  and 
dealt  upon  the  subject  of 

HYDRAULIC  MINING— ITS   PAST  AND 
POSSIBILITIES 

In  substance,  he  said : 

"Our  fathers  from  the  Eastern  states  sacrificed  homes, 
friends  and  the  comforts  of  life;  underwent  risks  and  endured 
hardships  in  crossing  the  plains  and  mountain  ranges  to  seek 
the  treasures  hidden  away  in  the  gravel  beds  and  streams 
of  California. 

"Placer  mining  soon  cleaned  up  the  surface  gold,  but  could 
not  wash  out  the  unlimited  treasures  in  the  mighty  gravel 
beds  of  the  ancient  river  channels,  which  range  in  depth  from 
a  few  feet  to  as  high  as  five  hundred  feet.  There  are  hun 
dreds  of  millions  of  cubic  yards  in  these  beds  which  will 
probably  average  fifteen  cents  per  cubic  yard.  These  values 
are  entirely  too  low  to  be  worked  profitably  by  placer  mining. 
Some  other  means  had  to  be  devised,  so  some  genius  invented 
or  worked  out  the  hydraulic  system,  which  was  by  develop 
ing  water  upon  higher  ground  in  large  quantities,  piping  it 
to  the  gravel  mines  and  turning  it  upon  the  gravel  under 
great  pressure,  which  washed  away  the  gravel  and  recovered 
the  gold  in  sluices  prepared  for  the  purpose. 

"This  system  has  been  tried  extensively  at  North  Colum 
bia,  North  Bloomfield,  Dutch  Flat,  and  many  other  places. 
Something  like  three  hundred  millions  in  gold  have  been 
recovered  from  this  method  of  mining  alone,  and  the  gravel 
beds  have  been  worked  quite  profitably. 

"But  what  was  great  gain  to  some  was  loss  to  others. 
You  have  heard  much  lately  of  the  debris  from  the  'diggings' 


SUNSHINE  AFTER  THE  STORM  227 

filling  up  the  channels  of  the  streams  in  the  valley.  On  ac 
count  of  this  hydraulic  mining  is  now  prohibited  by  law, 
thus  leaving  something  like  two  billion  dollars  in  gold  yet 
untouched  in  the  gravel  beds  of  this  great  mining  section, 
with  no  possible  way  of  recovering  that  gold  without  the  re 
sumption  of  this  system  of  mining. 

"It  looks  like  a  shame  that  this  valley  of  the  Sacramento 
which  has  thousands  upon  thousands  of  acres  of  swamp  lands, 
utterly  worthless  as  they  are  now,  could  not  have  this  debris 
from  these  mining  camps  to  fill  up  the  swamps,  and  make  use 
ful  the  lands  which  are  now  the  breeding  places  of  snakes, 
mosquitoes  and  the  germs  of  malaria  and  other  diseases. 

"It  appears  to  me  that  it  is  time  for  some  inventive  genius 
to  come  upon  the  scene  and  devise  ways  and  means  whereby 
the  great  gravel  beds  may  be  worked  by  the  hydraulic  process 
and  the  gold  recovered,  and  at  the  same  time  the  debris  be 
carried  to  the  swamp  lands  to  make  them  valuable  farm  lands. 
They  are  now  worse  than  nothing,  and  if  opportunity  ever 
comes  to  me  as  an  engineer  I  shall  lend  a  helping  hand  in. 
this  direction  and  try  to  find  a  happy  level  for  the  gravel  beds 
in  the  valleys." 

Then  Manning  took  his  seat,  and  while  there  had  been 
no  display,  no  effort  at  oratory  on  his  part,  yet  his  subject  was 
so  up  to  date  and  was  being  discussed  so  freely  by  everyone 
that  their  attention  was  riveted  to  him  at  once,  for  many  of 
those  in  the  audience  had  investments  in  these  mines.  While 
there  was  nothing  in  his  delivery  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  people,  yet  the  great  earnestness  of  the  speaker  and  the 
well  prepared  subject  made  it  evident  that  the  tide  was  rapidly 
turning  from  James  Randall  to  Lew  Manning. 

But  strange  as  it  appeared,  when  the  markings  of  the 
judges  were  gathered  and  compared  it  was  found  that  Lew 
Manning  and  James  Randall  had  tied  again  for  the  first 
honors.  One  was  perfect  in  his  delivery  and  ease  upon  the 
platform  and  the  other  first  in  composition  and  thought. 

15 


228 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

As  was  the  custom  in  such  cases,  the  interested  parties 
were  called  upon  to  cast  lots  for  the  honors.  The  young  men 
arose  and  looked  at  each  other,  as  if  to  say,  "It  belongs  to 
you,"  but  neither  of  them  made  a  move  to  draw  for  the  first 
place.  Presently  Lew  Manning  turned  to  the  chairman  and 
said: 

"This  young  man  and  I  tied  at  High  School  for  the 
scholarship  to  this  university,  and  it  was  so  arranged  that  we 
shared  honors.  I  am  willing  that  it  be  the  same  now.  I  think 
Randall  has  earned  it,  but  as  the  judges  could  not  decide 
between  us,  I  am  not  willing  for  a  chance  to  say  who  was 
the  winner.  If  Mr.  Randall  is  willing,  we  will  continue  to 
carry  the  honors  together." 

No  sooner  were  the  words  out  of  his  mouth  than  a  mighty 
cheer  arose  for  the  young  man  who  had  such  unselfish  mo 
tives.  James  Randall  grasped  Lew's  hand  and  gave  it  a 
hearty  shake,  and  they  seated  themselves  together. 

School  closed  for  the  year  soon  afterwards,  and  Lew 
Manning  was  to  resume  his  work  with  Abraham  Roe,  the  old 
surveyor,  for  the  summer  vacation,  while  Jim  Randall  and 
Myrtle  Winters  returned  to  their  homes  at  Sacramento. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

WHEN  I  AM  THROUGH  COLLEGE 

"Daddy,  you  should  have  been  at  the  University  and  heard 
young  Randall  speak,"  said  Lew  Manning  to  his  father  when 
he  reached  his  home  for  the  summer  vacation.  "You  certainly 
would  have  been  proud  to  know  that  you  were  instrumental 
in  his  going  to  the  university." 

"Did  he  win  the  honors?"  asked  his  father,  wondering. 

"I  think  he  did,  but  the  judges  didn't  give  it  to  him,"  he 
said  with  some  reserve. 

"Why  not?"  asked  his  father  curiously. 

"They  marked  us  a  tie  again." 

"The  deuce  you  say!    What  did  you  do  about  it?" 

"Well,  you  were  not  there  to  help  out  this  time,  but  know 
ing  the  interest  you  had  taken  in  Jim  and  that  you  were  the 
means  of  his  going  to  the  university,  I  thought  I  would 
please  you,  dad,  by  doing  him  a  favor." 

"That  was  mighty  thoughtful  of  you,  Lew,  but  what  did 
you  do?"  Manning  was  very  proud  of  his  son  and  his  pride 
was  now  increasing  as  Lew  said: 

"They  asked  us  to  cast  lots  for  the  honors,  but  I  knew  that 
he  was  religiously  turned  and  might  not  want  to  do  that,  so 
I  did  what  I  thought  you  would  do  if  you  were  there,  and  got 
up  and  told  them  that  we  came  there  upon  equal  honors,  and 
that  I  was  willing  for  it  to  remain  equal." 

"That  was  manly  in  you,  my  boy,  and  I  am  more  proud  of 
that  act  than  of  anything  you  could  have  done.  He  is  a  poor 
boy,  and  will  appreciate  it  all  his  life,"  said  the  father,  putting 
his  arm  around  his  son. 

"Yes,  but  he  will  not  always  be  poor.  He  has  the  stuff  in 
him  that  makes  the  winner.  His  production  was  not  as  good 

229 


230 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

as  some  of  the  rest,  but  my,  that  delivery  and  voice  will  cap 
ture  any  audience.  He  is  a  regular  Webster  when  it  comes 
to  oratory,"  was  Lew's  enthusiastic  reply. 

"What  is  he  going  to  make  of  himself?"  asked  the  senior. 

"It  looks  like  he  is  leaning  towards  the  ministry.  I  notice 
that  he  attends  all  of  the  religious  services  and  takes  part  in 
them,  and  I  think  he  also  has  a  class  or  two  in  the  Bible 
Seminary.  I  think  he  could  be  lots  more  useful  in  other  lines, 
though." 

"Tut,  tut,  my  boy.  Don't  talk  that  way.  There  is  no 
calling  more  useful."  Henry  Manning  was  a  religious  man. 

"Well,  it  is  not  much  thought  of  at  the  university,"  con 
tinued  Lew,  trying  to  defend  himself. 

"Why  not?"  greatly  surprised  to  hear  such  a  statement. 

"Well,  the  university  is  largely  permeated  with  Unitarian- 
ism,  and  they  look  upon  a  student  who  believes  anything 
else  as  a  sort  of  a  'coo  coo' !" 

Mr.  Manning  was  puzzled  and  silent  for  a  moment,  and 
then  said  thoughtfully,  "I  am  sorry  to  hear  that.  I  hope  you 
won't  take  up  any  such  nonsense." 

"I  am  in  the  engineering  department,  and  took  no  part  in 
their  religious  discussions  at  all.  I  was  raised  orthodox,  and 
I  knew  that  you  wouldn't  approve  of  anything  else,  besides 
I  couldn't  see  anything  in  the  new  doctrine  that  would  attract 
me,  so  I  just  stuck  to  my  line  and  kept  out  of  the  discussions," 
was  his  sensible  reply,  which  was  very  pleasing  to  the  senior, 
and  he  said: 

"That  sounds  better.  I  hope  you  continue  in  that  course. 
But  tell  me,  how  did  the  young  fellow  get  through  the  year? 
Did  he  make  out  all  right?" 

"They  say  he  has  done  fine  in  all  his  class  work,  but  he 
has  never  appeared  at  many  of  the  college  functions,  as  he 
didn't  have  the  money  to  use  that  way,  nor  suitable  clothing  to 
wear." 


WHEN   I  AM  THROUGH   COLLEGE         231 

"I  gave  him  fifty  dollars  the  day  he  started,"  said  the 
father. 

"Yes,  and  do  you  know  that  was  all  the  money  he  had, 
except  what  he  made  doing  odd  jobs  as  he  could  find  them 
during  the  year  ?  Yes,  sir,  and  he  did  not  have  a  dollar  to  get 
home  on  when  school  was  out ;  he  worked  his  way  up  on  the 
boat.  I  paid  his  way  to  several  lectures  and  places  that  I 
thought  he  ought  not  miss.  But  there  is  one  thing  that  puzzles 
me,  daddy." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  his  father,  curiously. 

"Do  you  know  that  on  Commencement  Day  Jim  appeared 
on  the  platform  in  a  better  suit  than  any  of  the  rest  of  us  boys 
had?  It  was  a  fine  broadcloth,  with  new  patent  leather  shoes, 
and  he  was  the  only  one  on  the  platform  who  had  them. 
Where  he  got  the  togs  is  more  than  I  can  figure  out." 

"Perhaps  they  were  rented  for  the  occasion,"  suggested  the 
elder. 

"Not  much.  He  brought  them  away  with  him,  and  Myrtle 
said  they  belonged  to  him.  She  had  learned  it  in  some  way, 
but  didn't  like  to  tell,  so  I  didn't  press  the  matter." 

"How  were  his  clothes  during  the  year?" 

"Everybody  was  ashamed  of  his  clothes,  but  liked  him 
well  enough." 

"Perhaps  some  one,  knowing  of  his  circumstances,  came 
to  his  assistance." 

"That's  the  only  way  I  can  figure  it  out,  and  if  they  did, 
I'm  mighty  glad  of  it.  I  was  thinking  maybe  it  was  you, 
daddy,"  he  smiled. 

"No,  not  me,  Lew,  but  I  wonder  what  his  plans  are  for 
the  summer?"  said  Mr.  Manning. 

"I  don't  think  he  has  any,"  answered  Lew,  wondering  why 
his  father  should  ask. 

"Do  you  think  he  would  come  and  work  for  us  here  on 
the  ranch  for  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  summer,  and  that  if 
he  came  he  would  be  of  any  account  to  us?" 


232 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  don't  see  why  not.  He  has  wonderful  ability  in  adapt 
ing  himself  to  various  circumstances,"  replied  the  boy,  and  his 
father  continued: 

"I  need  another  man  and  can  get  plenty  of  them,  but  if  I 
thought  he  would  be  any  help  to  us  I  would  get  him,  just  to 
help  him  out." 

"I  don't  know  whether  he  would  like  this  kind  of  work 
or  not,  but  it  won't  do  any  harm  to  make  him  the  offer.  You 
can  tell  him  what  you  want  and  expect  and  if  it  doesn't  suit 
him  he  doesn't  need  to  come.  I  doubt,  though,  that  he  could 
do  as  well  in  any  other  line." 

"I  will  go  into  the  city  tomorrow  and  see  him  about  it. 
What  are  your  plans  for  the  vacation,  Lew?"  he  asked  cau 
tiously,  knowing  his  ambitions. 

"I  supposed  you  knew  what  my  plans  were.  I'm  to  work 
for  the  old  surveyor,  Mr.  Roe." 

"I  did  hear  something  of  that,  but  I  was  in  hopes  you 
would  stay  here  on  the  ranch  with  us  this  summer.  We  don't 
get  to  see  much  of  you  any  more." 

"As  far  as  that  is  concerned,  daddy,  I  would  like  to  be  at 
home,  but  do  you  know  the  experience  I  got  last  year  in 
actual  work  with  him  gave  me  decidedly  the  advantage  over 
all  the  rest  in  my  department?  Yes,  sir,  and  the  Professor 
told  me  that  if  I  made  as  much  advancement  this  vacation, 
I  would  have  gained  points  enough  to  make  the  course  in 
three  years  instead  of  four,  and  that  he  would  not  hold  me 
back  for  the  rest  of  the  class." 

This  information  greatly  pleased  his  father,  and  he  said, 
"All  right,  Lew,  I  won't  hold  you  back  in  your  line,  but  I 
would  so  much  rather  see  you  interested  in  this  great  ranch. 
I  got  it  for  you  boys,  but  if  you  like  something  else  better, 
I  am  willing  for  you  to  go  into  it  for  your  sake,"  replied  his 
father,  regretfully. 

"Yes,  daddy,  that  is  true,  and  I  appreciate  your  interest 


WHEN   I  AM  THROUGH   COLLEGE          233 

in  me,  but,  dad,  I  have  got  a  great  idea  in  my  head  that  I 
believe  is  practical  and  can  be  worked  out  some  day.  If  it 
can  this  land  of  yours,  which  is  now  worth  ten  dollars  per 
acre,  will  be  worth  a  hundred  dollars  per  acre." 

"Don't  let  yourself  fall  into  the  habit  of  a  dreamer,  Lew," 
he  said. 

"But,  daddy,  it  is  the  man  of  ideas  who  makes  his  mark 
in  the  world." 

"I  admit  that,  but  they  must  be  practical  ideas  to  win." 

"And  that  is  what  I  believe  I  have.  I  outlined  it  in  my 
oration  and  the  scheme  struck  the  judges  so  favorably  that  it 
won  me  the  honors  in  the  contest,  and  I  feel  certain  that  it  is 
sensible  or  it  would  not  have  taken  so  well,"  replied  Lew, 
proudly. 

"I  have  not  heard  your  plan,  but  I'm  sure  it  must  have 
had  sortie  weight  or  it  would  not  have  won  you  the  honors 
at  the  university." 

"I  haven't  said  much  to  any  one  about  it  yet,  but  I'm  going 
to  put  it  up  to  the  old  surveyor  this  summer  and  get  his  ideas 
about  it.  If  he  thinks  it  is  practical  I  will  work  out  my  plans 
when  I  am  through  college." 

"You  wouldn't  object  to  give  me  an  outline  of  it  now, 
would  you?" 

"Certainly  not,"  and  drawing  a  manuscript  from  his 
pocket,  he  handed  it  to  his  father.  "Here  is  my  oration.  You 
can  read  it  quicker  than  I  could  explain  it  to  you,  so  just 
glance  over  it.  I  wanted  you  to  see  it  anyway,  and  then  we 
can  talk  it  over." 

Henry  Manning  took  the  manuscript  and  read  it  with 
a  great  deal  of  pride,  for  it  was  his  son's  first  big  effort  and 
a  winner.  He  looked  each  page  over  carefully  until  he  had 
turned  the  last  one,  and  then  said: 

"Yes,  that  would  touch  a  very  tender  spot  with  the  people 
just  at  this  time.  Nearly  every  one  has  some  investment  in 


234: WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

the  gravel  mines,  and  your  plan  would  appeal  to  them,  to  be 
sure,  but  it  is  a  long  way  from  those  gravel  beds  to  these 
swamps,"  handing  the  manuscript  back  to  his  son. 

"I  admit  that,  daddy,  but  not  as  far  as  from  the  mines  to 
the  Frisco  bay,  and  you  know  what  a  great  fuss  has  been 
made  about  the  debris  filling  up  the  bay." 

"I  know,  but  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  get  the  debris  down  to 
the  bay,  for  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  turn  it  loose  and  it  will 
go  there,  but  to  get  it  to  the  swamp  lands  is  a  different  propo 
sition.  It  would  be  something  like  a  mule,  it  wouldn't  go 
where  you  wanted  it  to  go." 

Lew  laughed,  and  then  asked,  "Why  is  it  that  it  goes  to 
the  bay  so  easily?" 

"It  has  a  channel  and  a  current  to  take  it  there  and  can't 
do  otherwise." 

"Well,  there's  my  idea  right  there.  If  we  make  a  channel 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  it  where  we  wanted  it  deposited  and 
put  the  current  in  our  channel,  why  wouldn't  it  work  as  good 
as  a  river  channel?"  he  asked,  sure  that  he  had  his  father 
cornered. 

"Oh,  I  see  your  idea  now.  You  propose  to  make  an 
artificial  channel." 

"That  is  my  plan  exactly." 

"Do  you  know  what  such  a  scheme  would  cost?"  he  asked, 
doubting  its  possibility. 

"No,  I  haven't  got  that  far  along  with  it.  I  said  the  de 
tails  would  have  to  be  worked  out  later  if  the  plan  is  prac 
tical." 

"It  is  safe  to  say  that  it  would  cost  a  million  dollars,"  his 
father  said. 

"Oh,  if  that  was  all  it  would  be  easy.  At  a  rough  guess 
I  should  say  it  would  cost  anywhere  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
millions,"  said  Lew  earnestly,  and  his  father  gasped  as  he  said : 

"You  might  as  well  drop  it  then.  You  couldn't  get  that 
much  money  in  a  hundred  years." 


WHEN   I   AM   THROUGH   COLLEGE          235 

But  Lew  was  not  too  sure  about  that,  and  said,  "If  the 
plan  is  deemed  tangible  and  we  decide  to  put  it  through,  I 
expect  to  get  that  much  in  a  lump  sum." 

His  father  looked  at  him  strangely  and  then  said,  "You 
'haven't  lost  your  head,  have  you,  Lew?" 

"Can  you  imagine  a  fool  getting  such  a  practical  idea?" 
he  said,  teasingly. 

"No,  the  idea  is  all  right,  but  where  could  you  get  so 
much  money?" 

"I  propose  to  get  it  appropriated  by  Congress?" 

"Oh,  I  see,  but  it  would  take  a  good  head  to  get  a  bill  like 
that  through  Congress  these  days,  and  don't  forget  it,  my 
boy." 

"I  couldn't  hope  to  have  such  good  luck  as  to  get  it 
through  all  at  once,  for  it  will  take  time  and  agitation  and  lots 
of  hard  work.  We  would  have  to  get  some  mighty  good  men 
lined  up  for  it  from  the  start." 

"Where  did  you  get  the  idea  for  such  a  scheme?"  queried 
the  father. 

"On  my  way  from  Sacramento  to  Berkeley  last  fall.  I 
saw  all  of  those  swamp  lands  between  the  two  places  lying 
idle,  and  the  thought  came  to  me  all  at  once.  I  was  never 
able  to  get  it  out  of  my  mind  all  year.  It  was  with  me  in  my 
studies  by  day  and  I  dreamed  of  it  by  night." 

"Well,  you  may  know  your  business,  but  it  is  too  deep  for 
me.  Be  careful  that  you  don't  waste  your  time  upon  some 
thing  that  is  absolutely  worthless,"  was  the  admonition  of 
his  father. 

"The  wrestling  with  such  a  plan,  daddy,  would  only  give 
an  engineer  greater  ideas  and  fit  him  better  for  handling  great 
propositions,  even  if  he  was  not  able  to  carry  it  out  for  lack 
of  funds." 

"Go  to  it  if  you  can  see  your  way  through.,  but  don't  get 
swamped." 


236 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  am  too  young  and  inexperienced  to  tackle  it  yet,  dad, 
but  I  am  planning  to  finish  my  school  work  in  two  more 
years,  and  then  take  it  up  at  the  end  of  that  time,  if  I  still 
think  it  practicable." 

"All  right,  that  suits  me  better.  By  that  time  I'm  think 
ing  you  will  see  the  impossibility  of  it  and  sidetrack  it  for 
something  more  practical,"  thinking  that  it  was  just  a  boyish 
scheme  and  would  soon  blow  over,  but  Lew  continued,  "I  don't 
think  you  would  say  the  idea  was  not  practical  if  it  wasn't  for 
the  financial  side  of  it,  now,  would  you?" 

"No,  it's  not  exactly  that  either.  It's  a  question  in  my 
mind  what  you  would  build  your  channel  out  of?" 

"That  is  the  biggest  part  of  the  problem  just  now,  but  it 
may  not  be  so  great  later  on,"  Lew  ventured,  not  wanting  to 
excite  his  father  more. 

"I  suppose  that  you  have  some  advanced  idea  about  that, 
too?"  asked  his  father  curiously. 

"Not  exactly,  daddy,"  the  boy  explained,"  but  the  govern 
ment  is  doing  a  lot  of  experimenting  with  certain  shale  in 
this  state  and  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  they 
have  made  the  announcement  that  we  can  produce  just  as 
good  Portland  cement  in  this  country  as  in  Germany,  and  a 
good  many  times  cheaper.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  in  a  few 
years  we  will  be  making  millions  of  barrels  of  good  cement 
right  here  in  California,  and  if  so  we  can  build  our  flumes  out 
of  cement.  They  would  be  permanent  and  would  need  no 
repairing." 

All  this  was  interesting  to  the  senior,  but  he  said,  "Well, 
that  is  some  time  ahead  of  us  yet  and  we  can't  figure  upon 
that." 

"I  expect,  daddy,  that  what  I  am  about  to  say  will  sound 
ridiculous  to  you,  but  if  this  idea  could  be  proved  practicable 
and  undertaken,  and  I  could  get  the  Government  to  back  it 
up,  why  there  would  be  one  or  more  cement  plants  erected 


WHEN   I  AM  THROUGH   COLLEGE         237 

right  here  in  these  mountains,  where  we  have  millions  of  tons 
of  shale.  We  could  then  manufacture  all  the  cement  right  here 
on  the  grounds  that  would  be  needed  for  the  flumes  and  all 
the  other  work.  The  Government  would  probably  own  the 
plants  and  operate  them  and  finance  the  building  of  the 
flumes." 

But  his  father  still  doubted  him,  and  smiled  as  he  said, 
"Now,  it  looks  like  you  are  seeing  things  again,  Lew." 

"Say,  daddy,  five  years  ago  we  were  back  in  old  Missouri, 
on  that  little  brush  hill  ranch  worth  about  three  hundred 
dollars.  If  I  had  told  you  that  in  five  years  we  would  be 
living  in  California  upon  a  twenty  thousand  dollar  ranch, 
with  the  possibility  of  its  becoming  worth  a  hundred  thousand 
soon,  and  that  we  would  have  a  rich  bank  account  and  hun 
dreds  of  cattle  and  horses,  as  we  now  have,  you  would  have 
said  I  was  seeing  things,  wouldn't  you?  But  it  has  happened 
all  right,  and  other  things  are  going  to  happen  which  seem 
about  as  impossible  as  that  did  then." 

Manning  began  to  see  the  advantages  of  an  education,  and 
was  very  proud  of  his  son,  so  he  said,  "I  won't  say  a  word, 
Lew.  Your  education  gives  you  advantage  over  me.  I  ad 
mit  that  I  am  not  able  to  keep  up  with  your  advanced  ideas." 

"It  will  keep  the  best  of  us  hustling  to  keep  up  with  the 
times,  dad.  This  is  an  age  of  progress.  Something  new  is 
coming  up  every  day." 

"Yes,  yes,  but  I'd  like  for  some  one  to  find  a  new  way 
to  plow  and  do  the  farm  work  without  walking  or  having  to 
use  so  many  horses." 

"If  I  was  not  afraid  of  frightening  you,  I  would  tell  you 
that  that  will  be  here,  too,  some  day.  I  just  saw  pictures  in 
our  scientific  and  engineering  journals  the  other  day  of  plows 
with  wheels  and  drawn  by  three  horses  upon  which  one  can 
ride,  that  are  now  in  use  in  Illinois  and  other  places  in  the 
East.  I  saw  another  thing  also  that  startled  me  when  I  first 
saw  it." 


238 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"What  was  that?"  greatly  interested. 

"Steam  traction  engines  which  could  run  on  wheels  and 
draw  as  big  a  load  as  thirty  horses.  They  were  using  it  for 
drawing  a  threshing  machine  around  from  place  to  place,  then 
using  the  engine  to  run  the  machine  when  they  were  thresh 
ing.  It  was  doing  it  all  without  the  use  of  horses,  too.  I 
suppose  that  some  day  they  will  get  those  engines  practical 
enough  so  that  we  can  use  them  for  plowing  or  other  lines 
of  farm  work." 

"Stop,  Lew,  or  you  will  have  me  seeing  things,  too,"  and 
the  old  man  shook  his  head  as  he  went  out,  saying  that  it  was 
all  too  much  for  him. 

Lew  hardly  took  time  when  he  was  at  home  to  go  around 
and  look  over  the  big  improvements  which  had  been  made  on 
their  great  ranch.  He  was  so  interested  in  his  engineering 
work  and  the  developing  of  his  great  "idea."  as  he  called  it, 
that  he  took  but  little  interest  in  other  matters. 

He  had  his  favorite  pony  brought  in  from  the  herd,  and  in 
a  day  or  two  he  was  off  to  the  hills  where  the  old  surveyor 
was  at  work,  measuring  the  gravel  beds,  computing  statistics 
and  drawing  maps  for  the  Government.  In  fact,  he  was  so 
interested  in  his  summer's  work  that  he  made  but  few  plans 
for  meeting  and  paying  the  proper  attentions  to  the  young 
lady  that  had  been  so  much  to  him  through  the  past  five 
years.  She  did  not  think  it  strange,  for  she  knew  his  am 
bitions  and  thought  he  had  the  ability  to  carry  them  out. 
She  remembered  how  he  had  talked  of  his  great  plan  all 
through  the  latter  part  of  the  school  year,  and  the  possibilities 
of  carrying  them  out.  She  realized  that  he  had  not  given 
her  as  much  attention  as  formerly,  but  when  she  remembered 
that  he  had  approached  the  subject  of  her  great  ambition 
once  and  that  she  had  dismissed  it  for  the  sake  of  his  educa 
tion  and  the  necessary  preparation  to  fit  him  for  such  an  un 
dertaking,  she  determined  not  to  become  angry  about  it,  for 


WHEN   I   AM   THROUGH    COLLEGE          239 

she  knew  that  his  affections  were  not  given  to  another,  and 
that  they  would  come  back  to  her  in  due  time. 

So  Myrtle  returned  to  her  home  in  the  capital  city  to  spend 
her  vacation  with  her  father  and  stepmother.  She  found  the 
latter  to  be  very  pleasant  and  congenial,  and  the  happiness  that 
his  marriage  brought  her  father  caused  her  never  to  have  a 
regret  that  he  had  married  again. 

Lew  soon  was  off  to  the  hills  and  became  busily  engaged 
in  his  work  again.  Jim  Randall  was  out  on  the  ranch  working 
through  the  summer  vacation  to  earn  the  necessary  money 
for  his  school  year  just  ahead  of  him.  He  took  great  delight 
in  his  work  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  please  Henry  Manning, 
not  so  much  because  he  liked  the  work,  but  because  of  Man 
ning's  generous  offer,  and  because  he  .had  befriended  him  and 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  go  on  with  his  university  course. 
He  never  stopped  working,  whether  he  was  tired  or  not,  as 
long  as  there  was  anything  to  do.  The  quitting  hour  made  no 
difference  to  him  if  he  could  do  a  good  turn  for  his  benefac 
tor.  He  had  to  learn  how  to  do  almost  everything  about  a 
farm,  but  his  willingness  to  learn  was  the  winning  factor 
and  helped  him  in  learning  a  great  many  things,  the  knowledge 
of  which  would  be  useful  and  abide  with  him  through  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG 

"You  are  operating  the  Gideon  mine,  I  understand,"  said 
the  stranger  to  Jack  Winters,  as  he  seated  himself  near  his 
desk,  handing  Mr.  Winters  a  cigar. 

"Well,  yes,  we  are  trying  to.  Our  company  has  a  bond 
on  the  property,  and  we  have  done  twenty  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  work  on  it.  We  have  built  a  stamp  mill  which  we 
now  have  running,  and  we  have  also  a  year's  ore  blocked  out, 
which  I  rather  think  comes  under  the  head  of  operating," 
eying  the  stranger  to  see  if  he  could  detect  who  he  might  be 
and  at  the  same  time  lighting  his  cigar. 

"We  would  call  it  such,  but  I  came  here  to  see  you,  as  I 
am  told  that  you  are  tired  of  it  and  want  to  sell  it.  We  would 
like  to  know  your  price  on  it  and  the  terms,  as  we  want  to 
get  a  long  time  bond  on  it  upon  the  easiest  possible  terms," 
said  the  stranger,  lighting  his  own  cigar. 

"That  is  out  of  the  question.  We  have  not  paid  for  the 
property  yet,  and  the  bond  belongs  to  our  corporation  and  not 
to  me.  We  would  have  a  lot  of  stockholders  to  satisfy,  and 
we  could  not  sell  it." 

"Hang  the  stockholders !  Here  is  a  good  chance  for  you 
to  make  some  money  for  yourselves,  and  why  let  a  lot  of  dis 
gruntled,  ungrateful  stockholders  keep  you  from  making  a 
stake  for  yourselves?"  continued  the  man.  Winters  was 
astounded  at  his  boldness,  but  kept  cool. 

"That  may  be  your  method,  but  it  is  not  mine,"  was  his 
stinging  reply,  for  he  now  took  the  stranger  to  be  a  crook. 

"Haven't  your  stockholders  criticized  you  and  been  un 
grateful  to  you?" 

"Yes,  but  I  have  given  them  my  word.  I  am  out  for  an 

240 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG     241 

honest  deal  and  will  protect  their  interests.  Because  they  criti 
cize  me  is  no  reason  why  I  should  not  remain  true  to  them." 

"Aren't  you  tired  of  the  worry  and  vexation  it  brings 
you  ?"  continued  the  stranger,  determined  to  persuade  Winters 
to  sell. 

"Oh,  yes,  in  a  way,  but  they  will  be  my  friends  in  the 
end." 

"You  haven't  paid  any  dividends  yet,  have  you?" 

"No,  not  yet,  but  the  chances  are  good  to  do  so  soon," 
said  the  lawyer  with  an  air  of  satisfaction,  knocking  the  ashes 
from  his  cigar. 

"Well,  they  have  had  an  honest  run  for  their  money,  and 
this  company  has  reached  the  stage  where  it  is  time  to  take 
some  action.  Most  companies  sell  out  about  this  stage  of  the 
game.  You  can  get  a  good  price  for  it  now.  Stockholders 
are  all  right  for  financing  a  mine,  but  they  are  not  supposed  to 
get  dividends." 

"Well,  sir,  you  are  either  a  fool  or  you  take  me  to  be 
one,"  said  the  lawyer  with  considerable  feeling,  as  he  threw 
away  the  cigar  he  was  smoking. 

"Neither  one,  sir.  I  am  willing  to  give  you  a  good  price 
for  that  mine.  It  is  just  such  a  mine  as  I  want,  and  I  am 
willing  to  pay  you  twice  as  much  for  it  as  you  gave.  You  are 
to  give  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  it.  We  will  assume 
that  and  give  you  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  as  a  bonus  for 
yourselves,"  said  the  stranger,  smiling. 

"Yes,  but  you  forget  that  we  have  spent  twenty  thousand 
in  labor  and  twenty  thousand  more  for  the  mill.  What  about 
that?" 

"Oh,  that  wasn't  your  money.  It  was  paid  in  by  the 
stockholders  and  we  will  take  care  of  them,"  he  replied  with 
considerable  bravado. 

"I  believe  I  heard  you  say  a  while  ago  how  you  would 
take  care  of  them,"  said  the  lawyer,  looking  the  stranger 
square  in  the  face,  very  indignant  at  his  audacity. 


24:2 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

The  man,  knowing  that  he  was  caught,  replied,  "I  was  just 
talking  then,"  and  tried  to  regain  his  confidence. 

"You  might  go  on  talking  again  after  you  got  that  bond. 
These  stockholders  are  mostly  our  old  neighbors  and  friends 
and  I  will  neither  betray  them  nor  see  them  betrayed.  I  don't 
need  your  money  personally,  and  if  it  is  a  good  mine  for  you 
to  work  it  is  just  as  good  for  us  to  work,"  slamming  a  book 
down  on  the  desk  to  emphasize  his  words.  But  the  other 
persisted : 

"I  did  not  intend  to  work  the  mine.  I  don't  think  it  will 
pay  to  work  it,  for  I  have  a  plan  that  will  pay  better  and  I  will 
take  you  in  on  it  if  you  like  that  better,"  was  the  cunning 
reply. 

"What  is  your  plan  then,  if  you  are  not  going  to  work 
it?"  Winters  asked,  curiously,  just  to  hear  what  the  fellow 
would  say.  He  unfolded  his  plan  as  follows : 

"That  mine  has  a  lot  of  fine  ore  in  sight  now  and  blocked 
out.  It  assays  well  and  shows  up  well ;  it  also  has  a  good  mill 
on  it,  and  is  all  new  and  just  what  we  want  to  organize  a  five 
million  dollar  corporation  and  sell  the  stock.  We  will  put  two 
millions  of  the  stock  in  the  treasury  and  take  three  millions 
ourselves.  Then  we  can  sell  out  our  stock  first,  just  selling 
enough  of  the  treasury  stock  to  keep  a  few  men  there 
on  the  property  to  keep  the  lease  alive  and  some  work  going 
on. 

"People  can  come  and  examine  it  at  any  time  and  it  will 
show  up  all  right,  or  they  can  send  an  engineer  and  he  will 
have  to  recommend  it.  It  will  be  a  dandy  for  stock  selling. 
I  would  rather  have  the  returns  from  the  stock  sales  than  from 
the  mine.  If  you  will  sell  me  the  property  I  will  agree  to 
take  you  in  the  company  and  in  on  the  rake-off.  It  will  beat 
your  kind  of  mining  all  to  pieces,"  he  explained,  trying  io  in 
terest  the  lawyer  and  bring  him  into  his  scheme. 

"You  don't  seem  to  be  at  all  afraid  to  tell  what  vou  are 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG      243 

going  to  do.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  will  find  it  a  little 
dangerous  to  go  into  the  U.  S.  mails  with  such  an  open  scheme 
as  that,"  said  Winters,  scratching  his  bald  head,  puzzled  at  the 
boldness  of  the  man. 

"Oh,  I  wouldn't  talk  to  everybody  like  I  do  to  you.  I  may 
never  carry  my  plans  out  anyway.  However,  the  showings 
in  the  mine  would  protect  us  if  we  should  be  reported  to  the 
Government,  for  we  could  take  them  there  and  show  it  to  the 
authorities,  if  they  are  from  Missouri.  Here  is  a  chance  for 
you  to  make  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  out  of  this  for  your 
self,  besides  we  will  take  you  in  with  us  in  the  new  company 
if  you  want  to  come  in." 

"Thank  you,  sir,  but  I  don't  want  in  on  your  scheme,  nor 
I  don't  want  your  money.  The  mine  is  not  for  sale  and  you 
can't  interest  me  at  all,"  said  Winters,  turning  to  his  desk  as 
though  the  incident  was  closed. 

But  still  the  stranger  insisted :  "Nearly  all  of  the  stock 
sold  to  the  public  is  this  kind  of  stock,  and  I  don't  see  why 
you  should  be  so  particular  about  other  people." 

"Maybe  you  don't,  but  I  do.  I  don't  make  my  money  that 
way,  and  I  will  not  lend  a  hand  to  that  sort  of  business,  sir. 
It  is  just  such  men  as  you  who  are  giving  the  mining  busi 
ness  a  bad  reputation,  and  you  don't  need  to  spend  any  more 
of  your  time  trying  to  induce  me  to  enter  such  a  scheme  as 
that.  I  don't  need  the  money,  for  I  have  a  good  bank  ac 
count  and  a  good  law  practice  that  is  bringing  me  in  ten 
thousand  dollars  per  year;  also  I  have  a  standing  that  will 
give  me  any  office  in  the  state  should  I  want  it  in  a  few  years. 
I  have  a  clean  record  and  a  clear  conscience,  and  I'm  going 
to  keep  them  that  way,"  calling  his  stenographer,  as  though 
he  was  going  to  work  on  other  business. 

"Just  a  minute  there,  Mr.  Winters,"  said  the  stranger  in 
a  businesslike  way  as  though  he  had  forgotten  something. 
"Let's  get  down  to  business  and  close  up  this  deal.  I  forgot 

16 


244 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

to  tell  you  that  I  have  already  made  a  bargain  for  the  property 
with  your  man,  Elmer  Jones,  while  I  was  at  the  mine,  and 
now  that  I  think  of  it,  I  have  a  letter  here  from  him  for  you 
which  I  would  like  to  have  you  read  before  we  go  any  farther." 
He  pulled  a  letter  out  of  his  pocket,  written  by  Elmer 
Jones  on  the  company  letter  head,  and  handed  it  to  Winters. 

Nevada  City,  California. 
Dear  Winters: 

The  bearer  of  this  letter  has  been  here  and  I  have  shown 
him  through  the  Golden  West  Mine.  He  wants  to  buy  it  and 
has  offered  to  take  over  our  corporation  and  the  bond  we 
have  for  the  property.  He  will  buy  enough  of  our  stock  to 
give  him  control  of  the  company  and  will  pay  us  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  cash  for  a  bonus.  I  have  agreed  to  it,  and 
have  sold  my  stock  to  him.  We  have  done  our  best  here  to 
make  a  mine,  but  the  stockholders  have  done  nothing  but 
grumble  and  I  am  going  to  get  out  of  it.  There  are  five  of 
us  directors,  and  the  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  will  give  us 
five  thousand  apiece.  I  want  you  to  close  the  deal  and  have 
my  money  ready  for  me  as  soon  as  I  come  down,  or  as  soon  as 
the  deal  is  closed.  This  man  will  go  on  with  the  company  and 
take  care  of  the  stockholders.  I  insist  upon  you  closing  this 
deal.  Yours  truly, 

ELMER  JONES,  Superintendent. 

When  Jack  Winters  had  read  this  letter  he  was  so  angry 
at  Jones'  action  in  going  so  far  without  even  consulting  the 
rest,  that  if  he  did  not  swear  he  thought  it.  The  color  came 
into  his  face  quickly,  but  he  said  nothing,  for  he  was  one  of 
those  cool  fellows  who  act  only  after  due  consideration.  Fold 
ing  the  letter  up,  he  put  it  into  his  pocket  and  turned  to  his 
secretary  as  though  dismissing  it  from  his  mind,  but  the 
stranger  spoke  up : 

"Now  are  you  ready  to  close  the  deal,  since  I  have  already 
bought  it  of  your  superintendent,  who  is  also  an  officer  in  your 
company?  All  there  is  to  do  now  is  to  pay  you  your  money 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG      245 

and  take  over  your  stock,"  he  said  as  though  he  was  sure 
of  closing  the  deal. 

"Stranger,  I  don't  know  who  you  are  and  care  less,  but 
there  is  nothing  doing  in  the  way  of  a  sale  of  the  Gideon  Mine 
or  the  stock  of  our  company.  Neither  would  I  turn  over  our 
stockholders  to  a  man  like  you.  I  have  given  you  my  answer 
and  the  subject  is  closed,"  replied  Winters  with  considerable 
feeling. 

"Why  not  ?  Isn't  the  offer  large  enough  ?  If  not,  set  your 
price.  I  am  here  for  business,  and  don't  want  to  go  away 
without  an  answer.  If  you  will  just  set  your  price  I'll  tell  you 
shortly  what  I'll  do,"  trying  to  regain  the  confidence  he  had 
lost  by  Winters'  remark. 

"I  have  given  my  stockholders  a  promise  of  a  square  deal, 
and  that's  my  answer,"  replied  Winters,  striking  the  desk  with 
his  fist  to  emphasize  his  words. 

"Oh,  I  see  you  are  one  of  those  goody,  goody  fellows.  I 
suppose  you  really  go  to  Sunday  School,  and  maybe  to 
church?"  replied  the  stranger  with  a  sneer. 

"I  wouldn't  consider  that  any  disgrace  if  I  did.  I  would 
rather  go  to  church  than  to  the  penitentiary,"  answered  the 
lawyer  sharply. 

The  man's  face  turned  red  and  he  flew  into  a  rage.  Think 
ing  he  was  recognized,  he  picked  up  his  hat  and  started  for  the 
door,  but  just  as  he  was  about  to  go  out  he  paused  and,  look 
ing  at  the  lawyer,  said: 

"I'll  make  you  eat  that  insinuation,  if  you  live  long  enough, 
and  I'll  miss  my  guess  if  you  ever  get  a  chance  to  make  that 
mine  pay  a  dividend.  You'll  wish  you  had  let  me  have  it, 
mark  that.  I  wouldn't  give  two  cents  for  your  chances  there 
now.  Your  die  is  cast,  and  your  days  are  numbered.  I'll  see 
you  later,  and  don't  you  forget  it,"  and  he  closed  the  door 
with  a  slam  as  he  went  out. 

He  had  hardly  left  the  room  when  the  President  of  the 


246 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Golden  West  Mining  Company  began  to  realize  that  what 
the  stranger  had  said  was  a  threat  against  the  mining  property 
and  his  life.  He  knew  by  the  look  upon  the  man's  face  that  he 
meant  it,  too.  "But  why  should  he  get  so  angry  because  I 
said  that?"  said  Jack  Winters  to  himself,  very  much  puzzled 
at  the  stranger's  actions.  "I  was  not  insinuating  anything.  I 
was  just  talking  about  myself.  What  was  there  about  that 
word  'penitentiary'  that  made  him  so  mad  ?  I  wonder  who  he 
could  be?  I  was  so  struck  by  his  bold  introduction  of  his  er 
rand,  that  I  forgot  to  ask  his  name  or  where  he  was  from." 

Jack  sat  there  for  some  moments,  trying  to  think  who  the 
man  was  and  where  he  had  seen  that  face  before,  but  could 
not  place  it.  He  realized,  though,  that  it  was  necessary  to 
act  quickly  for  the  protection  of  the  company's  property  and 
his  own  life.  He  could  not  understand  Elmer  Jones'  action, 
but  he  ran  over  to  the  bank,  told  George  Garner  all  about  it 
and  asked  that  the  bank  detective  be  sent  over  to  the  office  at 
once.  When  he  came  in  Jack  related  the  conversation  to  the 
detective  and  gave  a  description  of  the  man. 

"That  description  sounds  familiar  to  me,  but  I  can't  place 
him  just  at  this  minute,"  said  the  detective,  as  he  noted  it  all 
down.  "He  is  a  bad  character,  you  just  mark  that  down.  You 
must  get  word  to  the  men  at  the  mine  at  once.  Your  shaft 
may  be  blown  up  with  your  men  in  the  mine  or  your  mill 
might  be  burned  down.  Have  you  got  it  insured?"  he  in 
quired. 

"Yes,  the  mill  is  insured  at  about  half  its  valuation,"  re 
plied  Winters. 

"Better  increase  the  policy  at  once.  He  might  beat  us  to 
it,"  said  the  detectiVe,  knowing  that  criminals  take  long 
chances.  "Don't  take  any  chances.  Have  you  got  your  gun 
handy?" 

"Yes,  I'll  get  it,"  said  the  lawyer,  but  he  disliked  to  do  s)o, 
for  this  was  not  his  way  of  doing  things. 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAQ      247 

"Be  sure  that  it  is  loaded,"  replied  the  detective.  "You 
must  get  some  one  out  to  the  mine  on  this  evening's  train  to 
warn  the  men  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  Kim.  Better  send  two 
detectives  and  call  one  here  to  the  office  to  keep  watch  at  the 
door,  for  he  may  be  back  or  send  a  confederate  here  to  see 
you." 

Winters  did  as  directed,  but  he  said  nothing  about  the 
action  of  Elmer  Jones,  for  he  thought  it  best  to  deal  directly 
with  him. 

When  the  train  pulled  out  for  the  mining  section  that 
night,  two  of  the  best  detectives  that  could  be  had  were  aboard 
it,  bound  for  the  mine.  There  were  also  the  stranger  and 
another  man  with  him,  going  to  the  same  place,  and  when 
they  reached  the  nearest  railroad  point  the  four  men  took  the 
same  stage  and  put  up  at  the  same  hotel.  The  stranger  did 
not  know  these  men  were  detectives  and  conversed  freely  with 
them.  They  in  turn  told  the  men  that  they  were  going  up  to 
look  for  mining  property  for  some  Eastern  capitalists.  In  this 
way  the  two  detectives  won  their  way  into  their  good  graces. 
But  they  were  unable  to  get  the  men  to  commit  themselves 
in  any  way  as  to  their  purpose  or  mission  in  the  mining  camp. 
This  looked  bad  to  the  detectives. 

One  of  them  stayed  with  the  two  men  at  the  hotel,  while 
the  other  rushed  out  to  the  mine  and  gave  the  men  warning. 
He  told  them  to  allow  no  men  in  the  mine  or  mill  under  any 
pretext  whatever  unless  they  knew  just  who  they  were  and 
what  they  were  going  there  for. 

The  other  detective  asked  the  two  strangers  if  they  were 
acquainted  around  there,  and  when  assured  that  they  knew 
the  place,  asked  them  to  show  him  the  way  to  the  mine.  They 
took  him  around  to  visit  several  of  the  mines,  but  were  going 
to  pass  up  the  Golden  West  Mine.  He  insisted  upon  seeing 
it,  as  they  were  in  sight  of  it,  and  after  hesitating  a  few  mo 
ments  they  finally  agreed  to  go.  As  they  approached  the  mine, 


24:8  ,   WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

John  Sprouls  was  the  first  person  they  met  and  he  at  once 
recognized  one  of  the  men. 

"Why,  hello,  there,  George  Brooks,  and  if  this  isn't  Robert 
Harding!  When  did  you  fellows  get  out  of  the  pen?"  he 
asked  thoughtlessly. 

Harding  was  so  angry  at  his  identity  being  made  known 
that  he  jerked  out  his  revolver  and  was' going  to  shoot  Sprouls 
on  the  spot,  but  the  detective  was  too  quick  for  him  and  in 
a  second  had  the  two  men  covered  with  a  gun  in  each  hand. 
Sprouls  and  his  men  also  had  their  revolvers  out  and  the  two 
were  soon  overpowered  and  disarmed.  No  crime  had  been 
committed,  so  the  men  could  not  be  held,  but  they  were  ordered 
off  the  property.  The  word  was  now  out  that  they  were  ex- 
convicts,  thus  there  was  no  more  show  for  them  in  the  camp, 
so  they  disappeared  on  the  first  stage  that  left. 

Brooks  and  Harding  had  served  out  their  time  in  the  state 
prison  and  by  good  behavior  their  time  had  been  shortened. 
Nothing  had  been  heard  of  them  since  they  were  released, 
and  it  was  supposed  that  they  had  returned  to  the  East,  but 
Robert  Harding  had  been  all  over  the  mining  districts  and 
was  not  even  recognized  by  any  of  his  old  associates,  for  he 
was  both  dressed  and  shaved  differently.  He  had  even  been  to 
the  Golden  West  Mine  and  had  been  down  in  it  and  examined 
it,  unrecognized  by  Sprouls. 

It  was  different  when  it  came  to  George  Brooks.  The  dis 
trustful  look  in  his  eyes,  the  squeaky  voice  and  the  big  scar 
across  his  forehead  were  such  that  anyone  knowing  him  once 
would  easily  recognize  him  again.  When  John  Sprouls,  whom 
Brooks  had  once  thrown  into  prison,  saw  Harding  in  his 
company  he  was  also  recognized  without  further  evidence. 
Sprouls'  untactful  taunt  had  almost  cost  him  his  life  and 
would  have  done  so  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  detective,  who 
was  expecting  something  of  the  kind  from  the  men. 

Now  that  the  cat  was  out  of  the  bag,  the  men  had  to  get 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG      249 

out  of  town,  so  they  hurried  away  and  took  the  stage  for  the 
train.  No  one  knew  where  they  were  going,  but  the  detectives 
supposed  they  would  try  to  even  things  up  at  the  company's 
office  in  Sacramento.  The  men  were  gone  almost  before  they 
had  a  chance  to  think  it  over. 

"Is  there  a  telegraph  office  here,  Mr.  Sprouls?"  asked  the 
elder  detective,  who  went  by  the  name  of  "Shorty." 

"Yes,  sir,  at  the  big  hotel  on  Main  street,"  said  Sprouls, 
puffing  at  his  pipe. 

"I'll  be  back  in  a  little  while,"  said  "Shorty,"  as  he  hurried 
away. 

Jack  Winters  was  sitting  at  his  desk  busy  upon  a  very  im 
portant  case  when  the  watchman  entered  and  handed  him  a 
telegram.  He  opened  it  hurriedly  and  glanced  through  it 
carefully.  Then  without  a  particle  of  uneasiness,  he  said  to 
the  watchman : 

"Step  over  to  the  bank  quickly  and  ask  George  Garner  to 
come  to  my  office  without  a  moment's  delay." 

In  a  few  moments  Garner  entered  the  office.  "Good  morn 
ing,  Winters.  The  man  said  you  wanted  to  see  me.  Any 
news?" 

Winters  handed  him  the  telegram  silently,  and  Garner  read 
aloud : 

"Stranger  and  his  partner  accompanied  us  to  mines.  At 
Golden  West  Sprouls  recognized  them  as  Robert  Harding 
and  George  Brooks,  ex-convicts.  He  called  them  by  name  and 
they  pulled  guns,  but  we  stopped  them.  They  took  stage  for 
the  city.  Have  detective  at  train,  follow  them.  Warn  Garner 
and  Kramer.  "SHORTY." 

Garner  became  very  nervous  as  he  read  the  message,  but 
Winters,  the  coolest  of  the  two,  said:  "Hold  on  there,  Mr. 
Garner,  don't  get  excited.  Nothing  has  happened  yet.  We 
must  keep  cool  to  keep  things  from  happening." 

"I  know,  Winters,  but  those  fellows  are  bad  men.     They 


250 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

have  it  in  for  us  for  sending  them  over  the  road  and  I  fear 
that  they  will  try  to  even  up  on  us,"  he  replied. 

Winters  laughed  to  cheer  him  up,  and  said,  "Yes,  that's 
what  they're  up  to,  all  right,  but  we  will  be  on  the  watch  for 
them  now,  and  if  they  get  cute  we  will  send  them  back  again." 

"What  will  we  do?  Get  out  of  town?"  asked  Garner, 
seriously. 

"Not  on  your  life.  We  have  a  perfect  right  here,  and 
those  fellows  haven't.  They'll  get  out  of  town,  if  any  one 
does,"  with  a  quick  nod  of  his  head. 

"Well,  what  can  we  do  ?"  nervously  asked  the  banker. 

"Send  me  two  of  the  very  best  detectives  you  know  of, 
as  quickly  as  you  can  get  them  to  me,  and  we  will  meet  that 
train.  Then  place  a  guard  at  your  office  door  and  go  back  to 
your  work.  Leave  the  rest  to  me." 

In  a  few  moments  the  detectives  were  standing  before 
Winters,  awaiting  his  orders. 

"You  were  sent  over  here  by  George  Garner?"  he  asked, 
eying  them  closely. 

"Yes,  sir,"  they  answered. 

Winters  then  handed  them  the  telegram,  which  they  both 
read. 

"Now,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "here  are  two  of  the  very 
worst  crooks  out.  They  were  sent  up  by  Garner  and  his 
company  for  high-grading.  They  have  it  in  for  him  and  all 
the  rest  of  us,  for  we  had  a  part  in  it.  They  served  out  their 
time,  and  now  they  are  back  to  even  up  things,  so  you  are  to 
take  no  chances  with  them.  Here  are  their  descriptions 
(handing  them  a  printed  slip  from  the  records  of  the  peni 
tentiary,  and  also  Harding's  dress  as  he  appeared  at  the  office 
a  few  days  before).  You  go  to  the  train  and  be  on  the  look 
out  for  them  as  soon  as  it  pulls  in.  If  they  get  off,  shadow 
them.  If  they  don't,  you  go  through  the  train  and  see  if  they 
are  on  it.  If  so,  follow  them  to  their  haunts  in  San  Francisco 
and  keep  in  touch  with  me  by  telegraph." 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG      251 

The  detectives  listened  carefully  to  these  orders,  and  then 
hurried  to  the  train.  Winters  then  called  in  his  stenographer 
and  dictated  the  following  letter  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
mine: 

Sacramento,  California. 
ELMER  JONES, 

Nevada  City,  Cal. 

Dear  Sir: — Your  letter  sent  in  by  Robert  Harding  is  re 
ceived.  The  deal  is  off.  Your  friendship  and  dealings  with 
Harding  and  Brooks  have  caused  us  to  lose  confidence  in  you. 
We  now  believe  that  you  are  of  their  type,  and  since  you  have 
sold  your  stock  to  them  and  tried  to  get  us  to  betray  our  stock 
holders  by  selling  out,  we  cannot  use  you  any  longer.  As  you 
are  not  a  stockholder  now,  you  cannot  serve  any  longer  as  a 
director  in  this  company.  I  enclose  check  in  full  payment  to 
date,  and  advise  you  to  leave  the  country  before  you  land 
where  we  now  have  Brooks  and  Harding.  Your  actions  have 
shown  you  to  be  unworthy  of  further  consideration. 

Yours  truly, 
JACK  WINTERS,  President. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  MEETING  OF  THE  GIANTS 

"Hello,  there,  young  man,"  was  the  greeting  of  Engineer 
Roe  as  Lew  rode  up  on  his  pony  to  begin  his  summer's  work. 
I  have  been  looking  for  you  for  the  last  three  days.  Where 
have  you  been  keeping  yourself?" 

"Getting  acquainted  with  the  folks  at  home,"  was  Lew's 
smiling  reply. 

"How  are  they,  and  how  have  you  been  making  it?  I 
should  think  you  would  let  a  fellow  hear  from  you  once  in  a 
while,"  came  the  questions,  one  after  another  as  fast  as  he 
could  talk.  Lew  just  stood  looking  at  him  with  a  grin,  and 

finally  said: 

•*  i 

"How  am  I  to  answer  all  that  at  once?" 

"Let  'em  go  and  shake,"  putting  out  his  hand  as  the  young 
man  dismounted  from  his  pony. 

"Can  you  use  me  again  this  summer,  Mr.  Roe?"  asked 
Lew,  as  he  carefully  tied  the  pony  to  a  tree,  for  it  was  a  little 
wild  yet,  having  been  grazing  for  the  past  nine  months. 

"Use  you?  I  thought  that  was  our  arrangement  last  year 
when  you  left?" 

"That's  what  you  said,  but  I  didn't  know  whether  things 
had  changed  any  or  not." 

"Things  never  change  with  me  when  I  give  my  word." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Roe.  I  wish  all  men  were  as  true  to  their 
word  as  you  are,  but  a  good  many  are  not,  and  I  presume  that 
is  what  made  me  ask  you  the  question  unthinkingly." 

The  two  men  seated  themselves  on  a  large  boulder  near  by, 
while  Lew  took  off  his  hat  and  breathed  in  the  cool,  fresh 
mountain  air. 

"I  sent  my  helper  away  yesterday,  feeling  sure  that  you 

252 


THE  MEETING  OF  THE  GIANTS  253 

would  be  here  soon.  I  had  sent  word  to  your  father  where  I 
could  be  found." 

"Yes,  he  told  me  where  you  were  working,  and  I  came 
right  up  as  soon  as  we  had  talked  over  some  plans  at  the  farm. 
You  know  father  wants  to  build  some  grades  and  levees  along 
the  river  bottom,  to  try  and  head  off  the  overflow,  and  he 
wanted  me  to  oversee  the  work,  but  I  had  to  show  him  the 
impracticability  of  such  a  plan  at  the  present  time,  with  the 
river  bed  in  such  a  condition.  When  the  people  above  him  refuse 
to  build  their  part  it  would  be  useless  and  would  only  turn  the 
water  down  over  us  all  the  more;  then  in  all  probability  it 
would  cut  a  channel  through  our  land  and  besides  it  would 
cost  us  more  than  the  gain." 

"Did  you  convince  him?"  asked  the  engineer,  wondering 
what  the  ability  of  the  boy  was  along  that  line. 

"I  think  so,  but  he  said  he  was  going  to  see  you  first.  I 
tried  to  get  him  to  see  that  every  time  the  water  backed  up  on 
our  land  it  carried  in  and  deposited  a  large  amount  of  debris 
that  was  enhancing  the  value  of  our  land  all  the  time.  Then  I 
told  him  that  if  the  Government  did  dredge  the  river  bed  the 
dredging  would  leave  enough  dirt  to  build  the  levee  and  we 
could  save  that  much  expense." 

"The  idea  is  all  right,  young  man,  but  never  count  on  the 
Government  doing  that  wdrk  until  you  see  them  at  it." 

"Don't  you  think  it  will  be  done?"  asked  Lew,  rather  sur 
prised,  for  he  thought  the  Government  was  looking  out  for  that 
kind  of  business. 

"I  think  it  should  be  done,  and  I  am  going  to  so  recom 
mend,"  continued  the  engineer,  "but  that  doesn't  mean  that  it 
will  go.  You  know  we  have  a  bunch  of  people  down  there 
in  Washington  in  our  halls  of  Congress  who  have  never  seen 
this  country,  and  they  still  think  the  West  is  all  mountains  and 
full  of  Indians,  Mexicans,  and  so  forth.  They  can't  conceive 
of  its  being  a  place  for  the  homes  of  civilized  people,  and  it  is 


254 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

hard  to  get  those  Easterners  to  appropriate  a  cent  toward  any 
thing  on  this  coast.  I  hope,  now  that  the  railroad  is  built 
through,  that  they  will  come  out  here  and  see  it.  Believe  me, 
some  day  this  country  is  going  to  be  the  best  and  in  the  great 
est  demand  of  any  land  in  the  United  States." 

"Do  you  think  so?"  asked  Lew,  seriously,  for  he  also 
believed  the  same. 

"I  know  it.  This  climate  is  going  to  be  the  attraction  of 
the  world,  and  this  soil  will  grow  anything  that  is  planted  in 
it,  if  it  can  be  watered  in  the  dry  season.  Some  day  irriga 
tion  will  make  all  of  this  land  very  valuable  and  I  wouldn't 
be  surprised  to  see  it  worth  five  hundred  dollars  per  acre." 

"It  wouldn't  do  to  tell  father  that.  I  told  him  I  expected 
to  see  his  land  worth  one  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  and  he 
said  I  'was  seeing  things,'  or  that  'too  much  education  had 
made  me  mad' !"  was  Lew's  laughing  reply. 

"It  is  a  fact,  though.  Do  you  see  those  apple  trees  there 
on  the  hillside  among  the  brush  and  trees?"  He  pointed  to 
a  hillside  where  there  had  been  a  settlement  of  miners  some 
twenty  years  before.  They  had  set  out  some  apple  trees  which 
had  grown  splendidly.  Later  the  camp  was  abandoned,  and 
the  buildings  removed,  but  the  trees  remained  and  were  wit 
nesses  of  the  people  who  had  lived  there  in  the  early  days. 

"Yes,  but  what  about  them?"  Lew  asked,  wondering  why 
he  had  changed  the  subject. 

"Well,  if  you  will  go  over  there  and  examine  them,  you 
will  find  them  full  of  very  fine  apples,  and  I  defy  you  to  find  a 
wormy  one  among  them." 

"What  of  that?"  he  asked,  wondering  what  the  engineer 
was  trying  to  get  at. 

"It  proves  that  if  trees  will  live  and  thrive  in  a  healthy 
condition  for  twenty  years  without  cultivation  or  care  and 
bear  fruit  as  they  are  doing,  that  this  country  will  some  day 
be  a  great  fruit  country." 


THE  MEETING  OF  THE  GIANTS  255 

"I'll  admit  that  you're  right  about  that  It  looks  tangible, 
at  least." 

"It  is  tangible.  You  are  a  young  man  and  you  will  live 
to  see  it.  I  may  not,  for  I  am  old,  yet  it  may  come  sooner 
than  I  think." 

The  old  man  walked  over  and  picked  some  of  the  apples. 
He  came  back  and  handed  one  to  the  boy,  who  was  looking 
after  his  pony,  and  as  they  sat  down  again  Lew  said  rather 
timidly : 

"There  are  some  other  things  I  am  figuring  on  coming, 
too.  While  they  look  good  to  me,  they  may  not  appeal  to  you 
at  all." 

"What  are  they  ?"  asked  the  engineer,  and  his  eyes  twinkled 
as  he  watched  the  earnestness  of  the  boy.  He  wanted  to  draw 
him  out  and  see  what  improvement  he  had  made  during  the 
past  year,  for  he  had  taken  a  great  fancy  to  him  the  year 
before. 

"Well,  last  year  when  we  were  surveying  these  gravel 
beds,"  began  Lew,  slowly,  "I  found  that  hydraulic  mining  was 
but  just  begun,  and  that  there  were  probably  two  billions  of 
dollars  in  gold  left  in  them  which  can  never  be  recovered  ex 
cept  by  the  resumption  of  that  process.  I  knew  that  the  anti- 
debris  law  would  likely  prevent  its  ever  being  used  again,  so 
I  asked  myself  if  there  wasn't  some  plan  that  could  be  worked 
out  to  handle  the  debris  and  recover  that  gold." 

"Have  you  found  any  way  yet  to  recover  it?"  asked  the 
engineer  with  considerable  interest.  He  had  already  learned 
that  Lew  was  a  thinker. 

"I  have  an  idea  only.  Whether  it  is  practical  or  not  I  don't 
know." 

"Let's  hear  it  anyway,"  smiling  as  he  said  it. 

"On  my  way  to  Berkeley  last  year,"  continued  Lew,  "I 
passed  by  thousands  of  acres,  yes,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
acres  of  swamp  land  in  the  Sacramento  valley  which  extended 


256 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

clear  down  to  the  bay;  land  that  is  now  worthless,  yes,  worse 
than  worthless,  for  it  is  a  breeding  place  of  insects,  reptiles 
and  disease,  and  I  said  to  myself,  'Why  this  uneven  distribu 
tion  of  things?  Why  has  the  great  Creator  caused  so  much 
of  that  gravel  to  be  piled  up  here  in  the  hills  when  we  need  it 
so  badly  in  this  valley?'  Then  I  said  to  myself,  'Has  He  not 
left  it  for  us  to  work  out  a  way  to  put  it  where  we  want  it, 
and  left  the  gold  in  the  gravel  to  pay  us  for  our  time?'  Do 
you  catch  my  idea,  Mr.  Roe,"  now  talking  with  great  en 
thusiasm. 

"I  think  I  do,  but  it's  a  mighty  big  one,"  said  the  old  man 
after  a  moment's  hesitation;  "but  have  you  worked  out  any 
plan  to  get  it  there,  seeing  that  the  Government  has  stopped 
the  use  of  the  rivers  to  transport  it  to  the  valley  ?" 

"No,  I  haven't  the  plan  'worked  out'  yet;  I  have  only  the 
idea,"  he  answered. 

"What  is  it?  I  think  I  can  tell  you  whether  it  is  worth 
anything  or  not." 

"Why  not  build  artificial  flumes  or  channels  to  carry  the 
water  and  sand  to  the  place  where  we  want  it?"  at  the  same 
time  pointing  down  the  canyon  in  the  direction  of  the  valley, 
and  indicating  where  he  would  build  it. 

"Yes,  I  see,  and  you  have  a  capital  idea,  but  do  you  remem 
ber  the  old  fable  about  the  mice  which  decided  to  tie  a  bell  on 
the  cat  so  they  could  always  tell  when  she  was  near.  The 
question  came  up,  who  would  tie  the  bell  on  the  cat?  So  it  is 
in  this  case.  Who  is  big  enough  for  such  a  job  and  has  the 
necessary  means?"  slapping  Lew  on  the  shoulder  as  he  said 
it. 

"You  would  be  big  enough  for  the  job,  Mr.  Roe,  if  you 
were  a  little  younger,"  he  said,  having  great  confidence  in  his 
superior. 

"Yes,  but  I'm  not,  and  it  would  have  to  fall  on  the  shoulders 
of  a  much  younger  man  who  would  have  the  time  and  pa- 


THE  MEETING  OF  THE  GIANTS  257 

tience  and  ability  to  handle  such  a  tremendous  proposition. 
But  who  would  put  up  the  money?" 

But  Lew,  evading  his  question,  went  on :  "I  expect  to  see, 
in  my  time,  all  of  these  desert  lands  that  are  at  all  fit  for  agri 
culture  brought  under  cultivation  by  the  process  of  irrigation. 
To  do  that  it  will  require  great  flumes  built  to  convey  the 
water  from  the  streams  to  the  lands.  No  one  person  will 
have  the  money  to  do  it  with,  so  it  will  have  to  fall  to  the  lot 
of  a  gigantic  corporation  or  to  the  Government.  There  is  no 
proposition  in  the  country  that  will  be  more  promising  or 
profitable  than  this  one.  Why  couldn't  we  get  the  Govern 
ment  to  make  the  appropriation  and  get  behind  this  proposi 
tion?" 

He  paused  a  moment,  but  as  Mr.  Roe  said  nothing,  he  re 
sumed  : 

"It  wouldn't  have  to  be  an  outright  gift,  but  simply  a  loan. 
The  money  would  come  back  to  the  Government.  The  debris 
would  fill  up  and  make  good  land  out  of  what  is  now  swamp 
land,  which  could  be  sold  at  good  figures  for  agricultural 
purposes."  j  ,•  •  .>• 

"How  do  you  mean  that  the  money  would  come  back  to  the 
Government?"  asked  the  engineer,  for  he  was  now  getting 
very  much  interested  in  what  Lew  was  saying,  and  was 
anxious  for  him  to  go  on. 

"I  mean  that  the  Government  could  advance  the  money  to 
complete  the  work  of  building  the  flumes  and  then  charge 
every  one  who  used  the  flumes  for  hydraulic  mining  a  ten 
per  cent  royalty  on  all  gold  recovered  until  the  flume  was 
paid  for.  Then  the  Government  could  sell  the  land  that  had 
been  redeemed  and  it  would  be  a  profitable  business  invest 
ment  as  well." 

The  surveyor  stood  with  his  mouth  open,  taking  it  all  in, 
and  as  the  extent  of  the  boy's  plan  came  to  him  he  said : 


258 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Gee-min-ee,  Lew,  that  is  an  idea.  You've  got  me  all  en 
thused  now." 

"If  it  gets  a  hold  of  you  like  it  has  me  you  can't  eat  nor 
sleep  for  thinking  about  it  and  working  out  the  details.  My 
best  girl  says  I  have  gone  daffy  over  the  subject,  and  father 
says  I  am  seeing  things." 

"Young  man,  you  are  seeing  things,  but  they  are  a  genera 
tion  ahead  of  you,"  replied  the  other,  seriously. 

"Do  you  think  so?"  Lew  asked,  not  knowing  just  how  to 
take  it. 

"I  do.  The  idea  is  perfectly  practicable,  and  could  be  car 
ried  out  if  the  right  people  got  hold  of  it  or  the  Government 
would  back  it;  but  that  is  a  long  way  ahead.  Those  selfish 
Eastern  politicians  have  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  it  would  take 
some  pretty  tactful  men  to  get  a  proposition  like  that  through 
Congress  these  days." 

"I  have  a  plan  for  that,  too,  Mr.  Roe,"  kicking  his  foot  in 
the  gravel. 

"Go  on,  boy.  You're  the  most  wonderful  young  fellow  I've 
met  in  all  my  experience.  I  guess  if  the  work  is  ever  done  and 
any  one  is  big  enough  for  the  job  of  engineering  it  through, 
It  will  be  yourself,"  he  said,  taking  off  his  old  felt  hat  and 
clapping  Lew  on  the  back  with  it. 

"But  listen,  Mr.  Roe.  Now  that  the  railroad  is  built  and 
it  is  possible  for  people  to  come  to  this  country  on  short 
notice,  I  propose  to  raise  a  fund  among  the  mining  men  and 
invite  the  most  influential  Congressmen  and  Senators  out  here 
to  see  it  for  themselves  at  our  expense.  Then  we  can  elect 
men  to  Congress  from  this  state  who  will  work  for  it  and  in 
that  way  get  the  appropriation  through." 

"Do  you  know  that  they  will  each  require  a  plum  out  of 
the  pudding  to  get  it  through?"  said  Roe,  with  a  laugh. 

"I  have  heard  that  intimated,  but  father  tells  me  that  Con- 


THE  MEETING  OF  THE  GIANTS  259 

gressmen  are  not  allowed  to  pass  bills  from  which  they  would 
profit  personally." 

"That's  true,  but  it's  done  all  the  same  when  it  can  be 
covered  up  or  put  through  on  the  sly,"  said  the  old  man,  to 
see  if  the  boy  was  easily  tempted. 

"I  don't  believe  in  those  kind  of  methods  and  wouldn't 
think  of  starting  upon  a  career  with  ambitions  like  that.  I 
should  try  the  thing  upon  its  merits  alone  and  would  try  to 
create  sentiment  enough  to  put  it  through  that  way,"  was  the 
frank  reply. 

"That's  the  stuff  honorable  men  are  made  out  of,  my  boy.  I 
was  simply  asking  to  learn  your  true  make-up.  You  will  do 
to  tie  to.  Have  your  principles  and  stick  to  them  and  you 
will  make  a  name  for  yourself  if  you  adhere  strictly  to  that 
policy,"  replied  the  surveyor,  "but  what  do  you  propose  to 
make  these  flumes  out  of?" 

"Rock  and  cement,"  said  Lew,  coolly,  turning  over  a 
boulder  at  his  feet. 

"Where  do  you  expect  to  get  so  much  cement?  It  will 
take  millions  of  barrels  for  such  an  undertaking  as  that,"  for 
he  was  now  thinking,  too. 

"Make  it  right  here  on  the  ground.  There  is  plenty  of 
good  shale  here  to  make  cement  enough  for  forty  such  under 
takings.  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  to  see  a  cement  plant  right 
there  on  that  mountain,"  pointing  to  one  near  them. 

"Where  did  you  get  that  idea?" 

"From  the  scientific  and  engineering  journals.  For  the  last 
few  months  they  have  been  giving  an  extensive  treatise  on  the 
Government  experiments  and  they  find  that  we  don't  need  to 
go  to  Germany  for  Portland  cement,  for  we  have  the  material 
and  plenty  of  it  right  here  and  can  make  it  cheaper  than  we 
can  ship  it  from  Germany.  It  is  just  as  good,  too.  They  tell 
of  several  places  in  this  country  where  cement  plants  are  in 
operation  now,  and  are  making  a  success  of  it.  Worlds  of 

17 


260  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

shale  have  been  found  in  southeastern  Kansas,  while  there 
is  an  abundance  of  it  all  up  and  down  the  Pacific  coast, 
enough  to  supply  the  world  with  cement  for  a  thousand 
years,"  said  Lew,  with  a  confident  air. 

"Then  you  read  those  journals,  do  you?"  asked  Mr.  Roe, 
trying  to  find  out  where  the  boy  had  learned  all  these  things. 

"Read  them?  I  have  devoured  every  word  that  has  ap 
peared  in  them  all  the  past  year,  just  like  a  cow  goes  after  a 
head  of  cabbage,"  Lew  answered,  laughingly,  throwing  a  stone 
at  the  nearest  tree. 

"Well,  I  wondered  where  you  got  all  your  advanced 
ideas.  Did  you  get  your  idea  for  the  reclamation  of  these 
swamp  lands  from  that  source?"  asked  the  surveyor  inter 
estedly. 

"No,  indeed.  I  am  the  originator  of  that  plan  myself,  and 
I  have  only  confided  it  to  three  persons  yet — my  best  girl, 
daddy  and  yourself.  I  believe  you  will  prove  as  true  to  me  as 
the  others  are,  and  hold  my  plan  a  secret  until  I  get  through 
my  university  course,  which  will  only  take  two  years  more 
now,  if  I  make  as  good  a  record  with  you  this  year  as  I  did 
last.  Then  I  want  to  go  to  work  upon  this  plan,  if  it  appears 
as  good  to  me  then  as  it  does  now." 

"You  have  my  word  to  keep  your  secret.  More  than  that, 
you  have  my  best  wishes  and  whatever  help  I  can  be  to  you. 
I  fear  that  will  not  be  much,  for  in  two  years  I  will  likely  be 
retired  and  out  of  service.  I  must  say,  however,  if  you  con 
tinue  to  advance  in  your  study  and  work  the  next  two  years 
as  you  have  the  last  two  years,  you  will  be  equal  to  the  occa 
sion  yourself  without  any  help  from  me." 

"I  appreciate  your  kind  words,  Mr.  Roe,  and  I  hope  I 
may,"  was  Lew's  reply. 

They  were  both  quiet  for  a  while,  thinking  over  this  great 
plan,  and  then  Mr.  Roe  asked  thoughtfully: 

"There  is  one  thing  that  is  not  clear  to  me  about  your  re- 


261 


deemed  land  that  I  would  like  further  information  about, 
and  that  is,  you  say  that  this  filled  land  will  be  sold  for  good 
farm  lands.  Are  you  sure  that  they  will  be  fit  for  that  ?  Don't 
you  know  that  it  will  be  largely  sand  and  gravel  that  will  be 
carried  from  the  mines,  and  that  will  not  make  very  good 
farm  lands?" 

Lew,  smiling  quickly,  said :  "The  test  shows  differently. 
According  to  the  scientific  journals,  there  is  much  silt  and  de 
cayed  vegetable  matter  in  it,  together  with  the  decomposed 
granite  and  volcanic  ash.  It  says  anything  will  grow  upon  it 
if  given  water.  But  I  have  a  plan  that  will  satisfy  you  on  that 
score,  too,"  and  he  looked  up  at  the  old  surveyor  with  a  grin. 

"I'm  not  surprised  to  hear  it  at  all,"  replied  the  old  man. 
"You've  worked  out  the  other  so  well  that  I'm  ready  to  expect 
anything." 

"Well,  you  know  that  in  the  swamps  there  is  a  very  rich 
soil,  black  as  tar,  made  up  of  decomposed  vegetation  and  as 
productive  as  any  of  the  old  Missouri  river  bottoms.  It  is 
said  that  this  soil  is  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  deep  in  these 
swamps.  I  propose  to  fill  in  a  section,  then  install  a  pumping 
dredger  with  an  auger  suction  and  pump  half  water  and  half 
mud,  then  by  means  of  piping  carry  this  mud  to  the  filled  in 
land  and  spread  over  it  a  beautiful  surface  of  rich  black  soil !" 

The  old  man  gave  a  hearty  laugh  as  he  replied,  "You  cer 
tainly  have  that  scheme  worked  down  to  a  fine  point  and  you 
have  almost  gotten  me  as  excited  over  it  as  yourself.  I  don't 
think  it  is  worth  while  for  me  to  try  to  teach  you.  I  begin  to 
think  I  ought  to  study  under  you  instead.  But  then,  you  have 
had  the  advantage  of  the  university  library  and  have  used  it 
well,  evidently.  Why,  I  have  not  seen  one  of  those  scientific 
magazines  in  two  years,  I  guess.  I  have  been  so  busy  with 
field  work  that  I  haven't  had  the  time  or  chance  to  read  maga 
zines  and  keep  up  with  the  times,"  he  said,  sighing  as  he  arose 
from  the  stone  upon  which  he  had  been  seated. 


262 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  know  it  makes  a  difference.  I  found  them  very  inter 
esting,  and  I  have  ordered  them  sent  to  the  ranch  during  the 
summer.  I  will  see  that  you  get  to  read  some  of  them,  too." 

"All  right,  Lew,  I  will  be  glad  to  see  them,  but  say,  you 
have  started  me  to  thinking,  and  I  was  just  wondering  if  it 
would  pay  to  go  to  all  of  that  expense  to  build  those  flumes  for 
just  mining  purposes?" 

"Of  course  it  wouldn't,"  put  in  Lew  before  he  had  a 
chance  to  finish.  "I  don't  intend  to  let  it  stop  there  at  all.  I 
mean  to  use  those  flumes  for  irrigating  purposes  for  years  to 
come,  but  all  of  this  land  we  reclaim  will  have  first  use  of  the 
water.  Then  we  can  sell  the  surplus,  for  there  is  plenty  of 
good  land  all  over  the  valley  that  can  use  water,  and  those 
streams  will  produce  plenty  for  that  purpose." 

"That's  the  best  part  of  your  scheme  I've  heard  yet.  Irri 
gation  will  make  of  this  valley  one  of  the  finest  agricultural 
lands  in  the  world  when  those  pesky  swamps  with  their  ma 
laria  are  gotten  rid  of,  and  you  seem  to  have  solved  that  prob 
lem,"  he  remarked,  in  astonishment. 

"Well,  it's  been  on  my  mind  constantly  for  the  past  year. 
I  don't  know  whether  I  can  put  through  two  more  years  of 
school  work  or  not,  I  am  so  anxious  to  get  at  it,"  continued 
the  boy. 

"Don't  get  that  idea  into  your  head,  young  fellow.  You'll 
need  the  education  and  the  additional  two  years  in  age  also. 
Rest  assured  that  no  one  else  is  going  to  steal  your  plan,  for 
there  isn't  one  man  in  a  million  who  would  tackle  such  a 
proposition.  It's  yours,  and  if  it  takes  ten  years  for  you  to 
get  at  it  it  will  still  be  waiting  for  you.  So  don't  get  uneasy, 
but  get  your  education  so  you  will  be  prepared  for  the  work. 

"As  far  as  my  opinion  is  concerned,  I'll  tell  you  that  I  ap 
prove  of  your  plan  as  both  feasible  and  possible,  but  it  will  re 
quire  a  lot  of  time  to  get  the  necessary  appropriation  from 
Congress,  and  it  may  possibly  be  delayed  for  years.  So  don't 


THE  MEETING  OF  THE  GIANTS  263 

get  in  too  big  a  hurry  and  slight  your  school  work.  Just  take 
my  word  for  it,"  finished  the  old  man  in  a  fatherly  way. 

"All  right,  Mr.  Roe.  We'll  go  on  with  our  work  here 
then,  and  I'll  go  back  to  school  in  the  fall,  but  there's  one 
other  feature  about  this  plan  that  I  didn't  get  to,"  said  Lew, 
arising  and  walking  over  to  the  old  surveyor. 

"What !  Is  there  more  of  it  yet  ?  Well,  let's  hear  the  rest 
of  it." 

"You  know  that  mining  by  the  dredging  process  is  being 
talked  of,  and  there  has  been  a  dredge  built  and  placed  in 
operation  up  here  at  Oroville  to  test  out  the  method." 

"Yes,  I  was  up  there  and  saw  it  working,"  replied  Roe. 

"What  did  you  think  of  it?"  asked  the  boy,  eagerly. 

"Well,  it  digs  up  everything,  even  scraping  the  bedrock. 
It  saves  the  gold  all  right,  but  there  is  one  bad  feature  about 
it." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  Lew,  anticipating  his  answer. 

"Well,  it  dredges  land  that  has  valuable  surface  rights 
and  when  they  are  through  there  is  nothing  but  a  rock  pile 
left.  The  water  washes  all  the  soil  to  the  bottom  and  the 
rocks  are  carried  out  and  remain  on  top.  It  makes  the  country 
look  desolate  and  the  ground  is  absolutely  worthless  after 
ward." 

Lew  answered,  "Exactly  so.  I  expected  you  to  say  that, 
but  my  plan  will  help  that,  too.  I  propose  to  level  the  rock 
down  and  run  a  lot  of  this  debris  from  the  gravel  mines  down 
over  it,  and  make  good  land  out  of  those  rock  piles." 

"Great  heavens,  young  fellow,  do  hush  up  or  you'll  have 
me  seeing  things,  too.  You  certainly  have  a  great  plan  worked 
out." 

Lew  laughed  and  said,  "So  you  and  daddy  both  think  I  am 
seeing  things,  do  you?  Well,  I  certainly  hope  to  see  them 
when  they  are  a  reality." 

Thus  the  afternoon  and  entire  evening  were  spent  talking 


264 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

over  these  plans  which  Lew  had  worked  out  and  presented 
to  the  old  engineer  for  his  approval.  He  was  greatly  pleased 
to  think  that  Mr.  Roe  had  not  laughed  at  his  scheme,  but  on 
the  other  hand  had  admitted  that  it  was  feasible  and  practical 
if  it  could  once  be  financed.  Many  times  during  the  sum 
mer  they  discussed  new  features  that  came  up  and  the  ways 
and  means  of  carrying  out  his  great  idea. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THROWING  A  RINGER 

Abraham  Roe,  assisted  by  Lew  Manning,  went  on  with  his 
surveying  and  map-making  of  the  mining  sections  for  the 
Government  Geological  Survey.  Mine  after  mine  and  gravel 
pit  after  gravel  pit  they  surveyed.  They  estimated  the  num 
ber  of  yards  of  gravel  sluiced  away  at  each  mine  and  also  the 
number  of  yards  yet  in  place. 

These  surveys  were  very  useful  to  Lew,  for  after  he  had 
gotten  the  measurements  of  a  pit  he  would  figure  out  how 
much  of  the  swamps  it  would  fill  in,  how  much  it  would  cost 
to  pipe  it  away,  and  how  much  gold  would  likely  be  recovered. 
Not  only  did  he  help  Mr.  Roe  keep  his  records  for  the  Govern 
ment,  but  he  also  carried  a  note  book  of  his  own  and  carefully 
put  down  the  data  in  his  own  book  for  future  use  when  he 
should  undertake  his  great  work  of  reclaiming  the  swamp 
lands  of  the  Sacramento  valley. 

By  the  time  the  three  months'  vacation  was  ended  all  of 
the  gravel  deposits  in  Nevada  County,  California,  .had  been 
surveyed,  the  estimates  carefully  prepared  and  sent  to  the  de 
partment  at  Washington  for  the  geological  records.  But 
there  was  one  man  who  had  that  information  in  his  head  as 
well  as  in  his  note  book,  and  that  man  was  Lew  Manning. 

He  was  so  intensely  interested  in  every  part  of  the  work 
that  he  did  not  let  a  detail  of  any  importance  slip  from  his 
memory.  He  could,  offhanded,  mention  every  gravel  pit  in 
the  county,  tell  just  what  amount  of  gravel  had  been  piped 
off,  what  it  made,  what  was  left,  and  what  was  the  estimated 
amount  of  gold  it  would  make.  He  also  knew  just  what  area 
of  swamp  lands  this  debris  would  probably  fill,  how  many 
acres  of  redeemed  swamps  there  would  be  to  sell  as  good  land, 

265 


266 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

what  the  Government  ought  to  get  for  it,  and  what  amount  of 
profit  it  ought  to  bring  if  the  Government  would  take  hold  of  it. 

Of  course,  the  swamp  lands  had  not  been  surveyed  yet  and 
these  figures  might  have  to  be  revised,  but  during  the  next 
summer  these  lands  were  to  be  surveyed,  and  Lew  was  en 
gaged  again  to  assist  in  the  work. 

The  summer  had  slipped  by  and  Lew  hardly  knew  where 
it  had  gone.  He  was  so  busy  with  his  work  he  really  had  not 
given  home  or  relatives  any  attention.  He  had  been  home  a 
few  times,  but  his  work  was  his  whole  thought  and  conversa 
tion.  He  had  not  gone  into  the  capital  city  to  see  Myrtle  at 
all.  Loved  her?  Of  course  he  did.  He  did  not  mean  to 
neglect  her,  but  he  was  busy  getting  his  education  and  could 
not  lose  this  opportunity  for  experience  in  actual  work  under 
a  competent  teacher.  He  could  not  get  so  much  information 
in  any  other  way  and  it  was  worth  many  months  of  school 
work. 

When  his  summer's  work  was  ended  and  it  was  nearing 
the  time  for  him  to  return  to  school  he  went  to  his  home  for 
a  rest  and  a  visit.  He  found  Jim  Randall  hard  at  work  on 
his  father's  ranch.  He  had  been  faithful  and  trustworthy  in 
all  he  did,  and  Mr.  Manning  was  pleased  with  him.  No  man 
on  the  farm  had  worked  harder  or  taken  greater  interest  in 
Mr.  Manning's  welfare.  Others  had  accomplished  more  than 
he,  for  they  knew  better  how  to  do  the  work  and  were  more 
experienced,  but  none  of  them  were  more  steadfast. 

Henry  Manning  watched  Jim  and  his  actions  closely  for 
the  elements  and  traits  of  character  that  were  essential  in  a 
successful  man.  He  permitted  him  to  take  a  pony  and  ride 
into  the  city  to  see  his  mother  almost  every  Sunday,  but  he 
was  always  back  in  time  for  business  Monday  morning. 
Nothing  had  been  said  about  the  wages  he  would  receive,  for 
Mr.  Manning  had  told  him  that  he  should  be  treated  right 
and  would  be  paid  all  that  he  could  earn.  Jim  therefore 


THROWING  A  RINGER 267 

worked  hard  in  order  to  earn  at  least  fifty  dollars  for  his 
schooling  the  coming  year.  He  had  decided  that  he  would 
be  content  with  whatever  was  given  him,  but  Mr.  Manning 
had  given  him  that  much  the  year  before  and  he  likely  would 
do  the  same  again. 

At  last  the  day  came  for  his  departure  for  the  university. 
Mr.  Manning  drove  him  in  to  Sacramento  to  take  the  train 
from  there  to  Berkeley,  but  first  took  him  to  a  store  and  bought 
him  an  every  day  suit  so  that  he  could  keep  his  new  suit  for 
special  occasions.  Then  he  gave  him  one  hundred  dollars  in 
gold  to  bear  his  expenses  during  the  school  year.  Jim  was 
dumfounded.  He  took  the  money,  looked  at  it  in  astonish 
ment,  then  said  to  Mr.  Manning,  "You  don't  mean  to  say  that 
I  earned  all  that  money  this  summer,  do  you?" 

"I  didn't  say  anything  about  the  wages,  Jim,  but  I  figured 
that  you  would  be  worth  that  much  to  me  even  before  I  sent 
for  you.  Besides,  you  will  need  that  much  and  more,  too,  for 
your  school  work.  I  want  you  to  make  a  man  out  of  your 
self  and  not  be  handicapped  in  your  education.  Take  that 
and  use  it  well." 

"Oh,  I  thank  you,  Mr.  Manning,  for  your  kindness  to  me, 
but  this  is  just  like  'throwing  a  ringer',"  hardly  knowing  what 
else  to  say,  but  using  this  expression  because  pitching  horse 
shoes  had  been  a  favorite  pastime  with  them  that  summer. 

It  was  true  that  Manning  had  allowed  Jim  a  horse  to  go 
in  and  see  his  mother  often  during  the  summer,  but  I  wonder 
if  it  was  always  his  mother  he  saw?  He  never  forgot  the 
kindness  that  a  certain  little  girl  had  shown  him  at  the  time 
of  the  contest  at  the  university.  He  thought  it  would  not  be 
very  manly  of  him  to  go  to  the  city  and  not  pay  his  respects 
to  one  who  had  remembered  him  when  he  was  lonely  and 
friendless. 

His  visits  were  appreciated,  too,  for  in  that  way  Myrtle 
could  hear  from  the  Mannings  and  sometimes  from  Lew. 


268 WINNING  A  FORTUNE  

She  thought  of  him,  constantly,  but  he,  seemingly,  had  lost 
all  interest  in  her,  and  buried  himself  in  his  work.  He  had 
not  been  to  see  her  once  during  the  whole  vacation,  and  she 
often  asked  herself,  "Has  he  forgotten  me?  Does  he  really 
care  for  me?"  On  the  other  hand,  Jim  never  came  to  town 
without  at  least  stopping  for  a  pleasant  greeting.  Myrtle 
soon  came  to  expect  him,  and  to  count  the  days  until  he 
would  be  in  the  city  again.  He  was  courteous  and  pleasant, 
his  disposition  was  congenial,  and  she  really  enjoyed  his  com 
pany.  They  had  become  good  friends,  but  nothing  more. 

Jim  decided  to  see  her  just  once  more  before  leaving,  so 
he  donned  his  new  suit  and  went  to  her  home. 

"Ah,  Miss  Winters,  I  thought  I  would  come  down  and 
let  you  see  the  new  suit  I  earned  this  summer.  Don't  you 
think  I  did  well  to  earn  this  during  my  vacation,"  he  said 
jokingly. 

"All  by  your  lonely?"  she  smiled. 

"Yes,  and  I'm  going  to  wear  this  one  for  school  work 
and  the  dress  suit  for  special  occasions,  like  when  I  call  at 
the  girls'  dormitory.  I  don't  want  my  friends  to  be  ashamed 
of  their  company,"  he  said  with  a  laugh,  just  to  see  what 
she  would  say. 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  I  was  ashamed  of  you,  do  you, 
Jim?" 

"That  wasn't  what  I  meant,  Miss  Winters.  I  just  won 
dered  if  I  would  be  permitted  to  call  at  the  dormitory  this 
year,"  and  he  pulled  a  handful  of  gold  pieces  from  his 
pocket.  "I'm  going  to  try  to  be  more  fraternal  this  year 
and  not  spend  all  my  time  out  of  the  class  room  sweeping 
halls  or  attending  lawns.  That  is  honorable  enough,  but  I 
have  earned  this  money  this  summer,  and  so  I  hope  to  get 
through  by  only  working  a  part  of  the  time." 

"I'm  glad  that  you  are  so  fortunate,  Jim.  Your  educa 
tion  may  come  a  little  hard,  but  you'll  appreciate  it  all  the 
more  when  you  do  get  it." 


THROWING  A  RINGER 269 

"I  have  hopes  of  being  someone,  and  doing  some  good 
in  the  world,  Miss  Winters.  If  I  do,  I  will  attribute  a  lot 
of  my  success  to  the  good  influence  you  have  had  over  me. 
Your  gentle,  womanly  ways  have  had  a  great  deal  to  do  in 
shaping  my  career.  I  try  to  be  worthy  of  the  friendship  of 
such  women  as  you." 

"I  am  sure,  Jim,  that  I  have  done  nothing  to  deserve 
any  such  praise." 

"That  is  why  I  appreciate  you,  Miss  Winters.  You  do 
good  unconsciously.  It  is  a  very  part  of  your  nature." 

"Well,  I'm  glad  that  someone  likes  me.  I  used  to  think 
Lew  did,  but  it  seems  as  though  he  has  become  so  taken 
up  with  what  he  calls  'his  idea'  that  he  has  forgotten  me 
entirely,"  she  said  in  a  sad  tone. 

"Oh,  he  will  be  all  right  when  he  gets  back  where  he 
can  be  with  you  again,  I  feel  sure.  I  heard  one  of  the  pro 
fessors  say  that  Lew  in  his  freshman  year  was  really  ahead 
of  the  seniors  in  original  ideas  and  practical  work.  You 
know  that  is  saying  a  lot,  and  you  can't  keep  a  man  of  that 
frame  of  mind  from  thinking  and  doing  things.  I  am  sure 
that  he  will  make  a  great  success  in  his  work,"  said  Jim,  very 
earnestly. 

"Yes,  but  I've  been  wondering  if  men  of  his  makeup 
were  not  too  studious  to  be  congenial  and  pleasant  com 
pany?"  she  replied,  a  trifle  sarcastically,  for  she  was  con 
siderably  hurt  at  Lew's  neglect  of  her. 

"Not  necessarily,  Miss  Winters.  Haven't  you  found  Lew 
good  company? 

"It  couldn't  have  been  better  until  he  got  in  his  head 
that  idea  of  redeeming  those  miserable  swamp  lands,  and 
since  then  he  talks  of  nothing  else,  and  has  taken  but  little 
interest  in  anyone — me  in  particular,"  and  a  tear  rolled  down 
her  cheek. 

Wishing  to  encourage  her,  Jim  said,  "But  I  am  told  that 


270 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

that  is  the  greatest  engineering  feat  of  the  times.  In  fact, 
by  far  too  great  for  the  best  of  engineers,  and  if  he  can  carry 
it  out,  he  will  not  have  an  equal  in  the  United  States.  You 
certainly  would  be  proud  of  him  then,  wouldn't  you?" 

"Oh,  I'm  proud  of  him  anyway,"  she  said,  wiping  the 
tears  from  her  eyes.  "I've  known  him  for  five  years  now, 
and  he's  a  great  boy.  I  don't  wonder  that  his  father  and 
mother  are  proud  of  him.  I'll  venture  to  say  that  you  can't 
mention  a  thing  that's  new  in  the  scientific,  mining  or  en 
gineering  world  but  what  he  knows  all  about  it  and  its 
merits,"  she  said,  with  great  pride. 

"And  it  doesn't  hurt  him  any,  either,"  continued  Jim,  with 
enthusiasm  for  his  friend.  "Most  boys  would  get  the  'big 
head'  if  they  were  told  they  had  the  ability  that  he  has.  I 
think  you  will  find  him  the  same  old  boy  when  he  gets  back 
to  the  university,  little  girl.  If  he  neglects  you,  then  re 
member  that  you  have  a  friend  left  who  will  not  forget  you. 
I  am  coming  over  to  the  dormitory  occasionally  to  see  if 
you  are  faring  all  right,  anyhow,  and  if  you're  not,  I'll  see 
what  we  can  do." 

"That's  very  kind  of  you,  Jim.  Come  over  often. 
Good-by." 

"Good-by,  Miss  Winters,  till  we  meet  at  the  university," 
he  said,  and  then  walked  away  proudly,  with  his  head  erect, 
feeling  the  dignity  -that  good  clothes  inspire. 

Young  Randall  was  hardly  out  of  sight  of  the  Winters 
home,  after  telling  Myrtle  good-by,  when  the  door  bell  rang 
again  and  Myrtle  hastened  to  the  door  to  see  who  the  caller 
might  be,  for  she  was  very  busy  getting  ready  for  her  trip 
back  to  the  university. 

"Ah,  there  you  are,  little  one,"  was  the  greeting  from 
without. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  Mr.  Manning,  is  it?  I  thought  you  had 
forgotten  where  I  lived,  it  has  been  so  long  since  you  were 
here,"  she  replied,  carelessly. 


THROWING  A  RINGER 271 

"Don't  call  me  Mr.  Manning,  Myrtle.  You  know  you 
never  call  me  that,  so  why  begin  now  ?  I  am  still  just  'Lew'." 

"All  right,  then,  Lew.     Come  in,"  she  said  with  a  laugh. 

"No,  Myrtle,  I  haven't  forgotten  where  you  live,"  he  said, 
as  he  seated  himself  in  an  easy  chair  by  her  side.  "I  was 
just  busy  at  work  and  so  far  away  that  I  couldn't  get  in 
to  see  you  very  well,  so  had  to  content  myself  with  think 
ing  of  you  and  planning  for  a  good  time  this  year  when  we 
will  be  in  school  together  again." 

"Yes,  but  three  months  is  a  long  time  for  us  to  be  sep 
arated,  after  five  years  of  constant  friendship.  Don't  you 
think  so,  Lew?"  and  again  her  eyes  moistened. 

"It  certainly  has  been  for  me,  girlie,  but  we  can  be  to 
gether  now  during  the  school  year,  at  least,"  seeing  her  feel 
ings  were  hurt,  and  wanting  to  cheer  her  up. 

"But  where  were  you  all  summer  that  you  couldn't  get 
in  to  see  me  at  all?"  she  asked,  not  quite  pacified  yet. 

"We  were  two  hundred  miles  from  here  most  of  the  time, 
in  the  mining  districts  of  Nevada,  Sierra  and  Placer  counties, 
climbing  mountains  and  surveying  the  gravel  beds.  At  the 
same  time  I  was  gathering  statistics  for  my  proposition, 
which  I  expect  to  launch  some  of  these  times,"  he  said,  with 
pride  in  his  scheme. 

"Are  you  still  planning  on  that  'idea'  yet,  and  do  you  still 
think  it  practical?"  she  asked  doubtingly. 

"Yes,  indeed,  but  why  do  you  speak  as  if  you  doubted  it, 
Myrtle?" 

"Father  thinks  it  impractical  and  an  impossible  under 
taking,"  she  replied. 

"That's  because  he  is  not  an  engineer  and  doesn't  under 
stand  what  can  be  done  with  my  plan  when  it  is  worked  out," 
he  said  impatiently. 

"So  you  think  father  is  wrong  in  his  judgment?" 

"I  know  he  is,  for  he  hasn't  gone  into  it  as  I  have,  and 


272 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

is  just  speaking  as  my  dad  did  when  I  first  told  him,  in  an 
off-hand  way,  without  either  figures  or  maps." 

"What  did  Abraham  Roe  think  about  it?"  she  asked,  really 
wanting  to  know  the  truth  about  it. 

"He  was  completely  carried  away  with  the  idea,  and  said 
that  it  was  entirely  practical,  but  admitted  that  it  was  a  big 
undertaking,"  was  his  prompt  reply. 

"Father  says  you  couldn't  finance  it  in  a  hundred  years," 
she  said  with  some  hesitation. 

"Perhaps  we  couldn't  if  we  had  to  raise  the  money  among 
ourselves,  but  I'm  not  going  to  do  it  that  way.  The  courts 
and  Congress  passed  the  law  stopping  hydraulic  mining,  and 
it  will  take  another  law  from  Congress  to  resume  it.  While 
we  are  getting  that  we  expect  to  get  an  appropriation  from 
Congress  to  do  the  work  with,  and  that  will  not  only  make 
it  possible,  but  easy." 

"It  might  be  done  that  way  if  Congress  would  see  it  as 
you  do,  but  are  you  sure  it  will  take  up  with  your  plan?" 
she  asked,  doubtingly. 

"I'm  not  sure  about  that,  little  girl,  but  we  can  only  try. 
Anyhow,  there  will  be  plenty  of  time  to  discuss  that  when 
I  am  through  school.  The  old  surveyor  says  I  must  not 
spend  too  much  time  on  it  now,  but  to  complete  my  educa 
tion  first,  for  he  says  I  will  need  both  the  age  and  the  edu 
cation,  so  I  am  going  to  act  on  his  judgment.  However,  he 
said  for  me  to  get  all  the  data  I  could  this  summer,  and  be 
ready  for  it  when  I  get  through  the  university." 

"All  right,  Lew,  but  I  was  afraid  you  might  jump  into 
it  right  away  and  lose  your  chances  for  a  college  diploma." 

"I  may  seem  to  be  a  bug-house  about  it,  but  I  haven't 
entirely  lost  my  head,"  he  said  calmly. 

"Don't  take  it  so  seriously,  though,  Lew.  I  didn't  mean 
that  as  an  insult,"  she  said,  fearing  she  had  offended  him. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Myrtle,  but  so  many  have  talked  to 


A  photograph  fell  out  and  picking  it  up  he  saw  that  it  was  a  late  one  of 
James  Randall.     Page  273. 


273 


me  that  way,  that  I  forgot  who  I  was  talking  to,"  putting 
his  arm  affectionately  around  her  waist  and  drawing  her  up 
close  to  him. 

"Well,  I'll  forgive  you  this  time,  Lew,  for  neglecting  me, 
but  don't  do  it  any  more,"  she  said  laughingly,  as  she  patted 
his  cheek  with  her  soft  hand  and  rumpled  up  his  heavy  hair. 

"When  are  you  going  to  start  for  Berkeley?  Maybe  I'm 
taking  up  too  much  of  your  time,"  he  said,  after  some  mo 
ments  had  been  pleasantly  passed. 

"I  am  trying  to  get  ready  to  go  on  the  afternoon  train. 
Was  that  when  you  were  going?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,  is  there  anything  that  I  can  do  to  help  you?" 

"If  you  care  to  you  might  pack  those  books  in  my  trunk 
and  rope  it  for  me,  while  I  get  some  other  things  ready," 
she  said,  glad  to  have  his  help. 

Lew  started  to  do  as  she  directed,  and  as  he  was  stack 
ing  up  the  books  he  happened  to  drop  one  on  the  floor.  A 
photograph  fell  out  and,  picking  it  up,  he  saw  that  it  was 
a  new  one  of  Jim  Randall.  His  face  flushed  up  and  he  looked 
around  to  see  if  Myrtle  was  looking.  She  had  heard  the  book 
fall  and  had  turned  in  time  to  see  him  pick  up  the  picture, 
but  when  Lew  looked  around  she  was  busy  at  her  work,  ap 
parently  oblivious  to  everything  else.  Presently  he  placed 
the  picture  back  in  the  book  and  went  on  with  the  packing. 

"Oh,  Lew,"  said  Myrtle,  a  moment  later,  "wait  a  min 
ute.  I  have  a  new  picture  there  somewhere  that  I  want  to 
show  you,"  and  she  began  looking  through  the  books. 

"Whose  picture  was  it?"  asked  Lew,  hesitatingly. 

"Jim  Randall's.  He  had  it  taken  with  his  new  suit  on, 
and  he  said  he  had  one  for  you,  too.  I  think  it  is  a  lovely 
picture." 

"It's  there  in  that  book.  I  saw  it  a  moment  ago,  as  it 
fell  out  when  I  awkwardly  dropped  the  book  on  the  floor," 
he  said  apologetically. 

18 


274 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Oh,  then  you  did  see  it?"  she  replied,  pretending  surprise. 

"I  couldn't  help  it  when  it  fell  out,  Myrtle.  I  wasn't 
meddling." 

"Oh,  certainly  not.  I  know  you  too  well  to  think  that  of 
you,"  trying  to  smooth  things  over. 

"But  how  did  he  come  to  give  you  one  of  his  pictures, 
Myrtle?" 

"I  asked  him  for  it,"  she  answered,  innocently.  "You 
know  we  three  went  from  the  same  school  and  with  almost 
equal  honors,  and  we  have  all  been  good  friends.  We  have 
stood  by  each  other  and  determined  to  come  out  with  the 
same  standing  and  good  will  that  we  went  in  with." 

Lew  smiled  and  said,  "That's  a  good  explanation,  little 
girl,  and  it's  all  right.  I  don't  blame  you  in  the  least  for 
your  friendship  with  Jim.  but  I  was  just  wondering  where 
you  got  the  picture  when  I  first  saw  it." 

"I  suppose  you  were,  but  Jim  was  just  here  this  morn 
ing  and  brought  it,"  she  replied,  cautiously,  "and  I  was  in 
such  a  hurry  that  I  just  placed  it  in  that  book  so  it  would 
not  be  forgotten.  I  just  thought  of  it  a  moment  ago,  and 
wanted  to  show  it  to  you." 

"Jim  has  been  out  to  the  ranch  all  summer,  working  for 
daddy,  and  I  suppose  he  feels  quite  rich  now,  for  dad  gave 
him  a  hundred  dollars  for  his  summer's  work.  I  think  he 
will  do  better  work  in  school  this  year,  for  he  will  not  have 
to  do  so  much  outside  work  to  make  his  way.  I  have  won 
dered  all  summer  where  he  got  that  broadcloth  suit  last  June. 
It  certainly  helped  him  out  a  lot.  I  thought  dad  did  it,  but 
he  says  he  didn't."  He  was  trying  to  draw  Myrtle  out  to 
see  if  she  would  tell  him  what  she  knew  about  it. 

"I  suppose  he  had  some  good  friend  who  came  to  his 
rescue,"  she  replied,  as  though  she  was  not  much  inter 
ested  in  it. 

"Well,  it  pays  to  have  friends  like  that.     That  outfit  he 


THROWING  A  RINGER 375 

had  on  was  worth  forty  dollars,  if  it  was  worth  a  cent.  I'd 
like  to  know  where  he  got  it,  but  I  hate  to  ask  him.  I  won 
der  if  he  would  tell  you  ?"  he  said,  to  see  what  she  would  say. 

"I'm  sure  he  would  if  I  asked  him,  but  I  am  like  you,  I 
wouldn't  want  to  mention  it  to  him.  People  are  sometimes 
touchy  about  such  things.  I  think  I  could  guess,  but  I  would 
rather  you  wouldn't  ask  me  to,  Lew,"  she  said,  blushing 
somewhat. 

"Oh,  all  right,  little  girl ;  we'll  not  say  anything  more  about 
it,"  he  said  understandingly. 

"But  didn't  he  look  nice  in  it?  I  really  felt  proud  that 
he  was  from  Sacramento.  It  was  so  manly  in  you,  too,  Lew, 
the  way  you  handled  the  contest." 

"Perhaps  I  didn't  deserve  the  credit  that  I  got  for  my 
action  in  the  matter,  for,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  am  more  afraid 
of  Jim  than  anyone  else  in  the  school,"  and  she  knew  by  the 
way  he  said  it  that  he  meant  it. 

"What  is  your  reason?"  she  demanded,  wondering  if  it 
was  about  herself. 

"Well,  he  is  a  natural  born  orator,  and  knows  how  to 
handle  himself.  I'm  afraid  I  can't  always  get  a  subject  that 
will  win  for  me,  and  I  really  look  for  him  to  carry  off  the 
honors  the  next  time.  I  was  just  a  little  selfish  this  time,  for 
I  knew  it  would  give  me'  a  better  standing  in  the  university. 
The  opportunity  just  came  to  me  and  I  grasped  it.  I  don't 
know  whether  he  appreciates  it  or  not." 

"He  certainly  does,  Lew,  for  I  heard  him  say  so  several 
times." 

"Where  have  you  seen  him  so  often?"  he  asked  quickly, 
for  this  was  something  new  to  him,  and  it  was  just  what 
he  was  afraid  of. 

"Here  at  our  house  a  time  or  two,  on  the  street  once, 
and  out  at  your  father's  ranch  when  I  was  out  there  this 
summer,"  she  said,  looking  him  squarely  in  the  eye. 


276 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"It  seems  to  me  that  you  two  have  been  getting  rather 
chummy  while  I  was  away  this  summer.  I  guess  I'll  have 
to  stay  closer  at  home  another  summer,  or  my  nose  is  likely 
to  get  out  of  joint,"  he  said  jokingly,  but  half  in  earnest. 

"Well,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  was  lonely  without  you,  and 
I  was  glad  to  have  his  company  or  that  of  any  other  good 
friend.  I  don't  know  but  that  I  should  be  tempted  to  elope 
with  him  if  you  stayed  away  three  months  again,"  she  said 
poutingly,  as  she  leaned  over  a  chair. 

To  this  he  replied,  "Oh,  well,  if  you  think  more  of  him 
than  you  do  of  me,  I  should  not  think  of  putting  a  straw  in 
your  way,"  shortly,  and  somewhat  angrily. 

"Yes,  but  I  don't.  I  admire  his  manly  qualities,  but  you 
and  I  have  been  more  than  friends  for  the  past  five  years, 
and  without  the  least  friction.  I  don't  see  the  reason  for 
any  now."  She  tried  to  say  more  but  her  voice  began  to 
tremble,  and  the  choking  in  her  throat  prevented  her  talking 
any  more.  She  covered  her  face  with  her  apron. 

Lew  saw  that  her  feelings  were  hurt,  and  he  walked  over 
to  her  and  placed  his  arm  about  her  waist  again,  drawing  her 
up  close  to  him. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sweetheart.  It  was  stupid  and  mean 
in  me  to  treat  you  as  I  did,"  he  said.  "I  was  so  absorbed 
in  my  work  that  I  did  not  even  give  mother  the  proper  at 
tention  I  should,  either,  and  she  was  hurt  by  it,  too.  I  won't 
say  any  more,  and  would  not  have  blamed  you  if  you  had 
eloped  with  someone  else.  I  should  have  made  a  trip  or  two 
to  see  you,  anyway." 


CHAPTER  XXI 

MAKING  A  CLEANUP 

The  second  day  after  Winters  had  sent  the  detectives  to 
the  train  to  watch  for  the  two  ex-convicts,  he  received  a 
letter,  which  he  opened  quickly  and  read: 

"San  Francisco,  Cal. 
"MR.  JACK  WINTERS, 

"Sacramento,  Cal. 

"We  spotted  the  men  on  the  train.  They  did  not  get  off 
at  Sacramento,  so  we  boarded  the  train  and  came  on  to  this 
city.  We  trailed  them  to  their  office  here  in  the  Duncamp 
Building.  They  are  running  a  brokerage  office,  selling 
mining  stock.  Are  putting  out  circulars  describing  a  mine 
very  similar  to  yours.  They  have  a  very  smooth  office  man 
who  writes  the  circulars  and  attends  to  the  business.  They 
have  a  big  mail  order  business  and  are  likely  to  reap  a  rich 
harvest. 

"We  have  learned  nothing  as  to  their  intentions  toward 
you  people.  They  have  said  nothing  about  it  and  are  not 
making  any  moves  in  that  line  as  yet.  Can't  tell  what  they 
may  do.  They  are  very  cautious  and  do  not  take  to  us  at 
all,  although  we  have  bought  some  of  their  stock.  Robert 
Harding  is  president,  George  Brooks  is  secretary.  What  do 
you  want  us  to  do  next?  DETECTIVES/' 

Mr.  Garner  was  called  in  and  they  went  over  the  matter 
together.  It  was  decided,  now  that  the  men  knew  that  they 
were  recognized  and  what  they  were  doing,  that  they  would 
not  dare  go  back  openly  and  make  another  attempt  on  the 
property  or  the  men,  but  that  they  would  lay  low  for  a  while 
and  then  try  something  in  an  underhanded  way. 

Winters  picked  up  a  partly  smoked  cigar,  lit  it  and  said, 
"I  suggest,  Garner,  that  we  call  in  the  U.  S.  Postal  Inspector 
and  inform  him  of  the  whole  situation,  and  that  he  go  to 

277 


278 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

their  office  and  check  their  business  over,  get  the  location 
of  their  property  and  investigate  the  same.  If  they  have 
no  property,  we  can  soon  wind  up  their  career." 

"I  am  of  the  same  opinion,  Mr.  Winters,  for  in  this  way 
we  can  easily  rid  the  country  of  them,  or  make  them  be 
good." 

"There  is  another  way  that  we  can  handle  them,"  said 
Winters,  thoughtfully  scratching  his  bald  head,  "and  that  is, 
to  have  one  of  the  boys  there  make  known  who  he  is,  and 
tell  them  that  they  have  no  property,  that  unless  they  are 
ready  to  surrender  and  be  good  that  we  will  call  in  the  Postal 
authorities  and  have  them  run  in.  We  can  make  them  come 
through  by  holding  that  over  their  heads,  and  they  will  be 
afraid  to  do  anything  for  fear  of  exposure.  There  is  one  bad 
feature  about  it,  though,  if  we  let  them  go.  They  are  skin 
ning  the  people  out  of  their  money  by  selling  them  this  fake 
mining  stock,  and  if  we  let  them  go  on,  they  will  continue 
to  do  so." 

"We  don't  know  for  sure  what  they  are  doing,"  replied 
Garner,  "but  if  they  are  selling  fake  stocks  they  ought  to 
be  stopped.  It  is  none  of  our  affair,  but  it  is  just  such  peo 
ple  as  these  that  make  it  hard  to  get  the  public  interested 
in  honest  business.  They  think  it  is  all  fake,  and  shy  at  it. 
I  am  in  favor  of  stopping  it  if  it  is  found  to  be  a  fake 
business." 

"I  am  sure  that  it  is,"  replied  Winters,  seriously,  "from 
what  Harding  said  here  in  my  office  when  he  tried  to  buy 
our  mines.  He  said  that  all  stockholders  were  good  for  was 
to  buy  the  stock  and  help  finance  it,  that  they  were  not  sup 
posed  to  get  any  dividends.  Those  men  are  born  crooks,  and 
do  not  intend  to  do  anything  else  but  beat  people.  They  were 
beating  you  and  your  company  when  they  worked  for  you, 
and  they  will  beat  anyone  else  if  they  get  a  chance." 

"Let's  try  holding  the  club  over  their  heads    and    make 


MAKING  A  CLEANUP 379 

them  'fess  up  that  way,  and  if  they  won't  play  in  our  game 
we'll  handle  them  in  a  stronger  way,"  said  Garner,  for  he 
rather  feared  the  law  process. 

"Very  well,  then,  I  will  write  to  the  boys,  and  have  one 
of  them  make  known  his  mission  there  to  them.  He  can  tell 
them  what  we  know  and  will  do  if  they  make  another  move 
against  us,  Mr.  Garner,  if  you  are  positive  that  this  will  be 
the  best  way  to  handle  it.  I  am  sure  that  I  don't  know 
whether  it  is  the  best  way  or  not,  but  we  can  try  it.  By 
keeping  the  detectives  on  the  lookout,  we  may  be  able  to 
stave  them  off,  so  that  they  will  not  do  us  any  harm,  but 
they  are  bad  men  to  be  at  large,  and  we  must  get  rid  of  them 
some  way,"  again  scratching  his  head,  as  was  his  habit  when 
anything  puzzled  him,  and  lighting  a  fresh  cigar. 

"You  don't  hint  at  foul  play?"  asked  Garner,  seriously. 

"Not  in  the  least.  I  don't  believe  in,  or  practice,  any 
thing  of  that  kind.  If  it  comes  to  self-defense,  I  might  not 
hesitate,  but  I  don't  take  the  aggressive  part  when  it  comes 
to  personal  injury.  There  is  another  thing  we  can  do  if 
necessary,  and  that  is  to  swear  that  our  lives  are  in  danger 
while  they  are  at  liberty,  as  they  have  threatened  us,  and  then 
we  can  make  them  give  bonds  for  good  behavior  or  we  can 
lock  them  up,"  said  the  lawyer,  feeling  that  this  was  the  best 
way  to  handle  them. 

"That's  so,  and  it  will  be  another  good  club  to  hold  over 
their  heads.  You  might  incorporate  that,  also,  in  your  letter 
to  the  boys,  and  have  them  tell  those  fellows  what  they  can 
expect  if  they  won't  be  good." 

"All  right,  I'll  get  a  letter  out  to  them  at  once  and  out 
line  a  course  for  them  to  follow.  Those  boys  are  smooth  and 
they  can  scare  them  into  some  plan  of  settlement,"  replied 
Winters. 

"Very  well,  then,  I'll  leave  it  with  you.     Good-night." 

"Good-night,  Mr.  Garner." 


280 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Yes,  Mr.  Winters,  we  evidently  have  them  cornered," 
said  the  two  detectives,  as  they  came  back  to  the  company's 
office  in  Sacramento  some  days  later.  "They  were  very  much 
frightened  when  they  found  out  who  we  were  and  that  we 
were  on  their  track.  They  were  more  scared  than  ever  when 
we  went  in  and  bought  some  of  their  stock  and  then  de 
manded  the  books  to  look  over." 

"Did  you  get  to  see  the  books?"  demanded  the  lawyer, 
anxiously. 

"We  certainly  did,  Mr.  Winters,  and  we  went  through 
every  page  from  the  beginning  to  the  end." 

"What  did  they  say  to  that?"  asked  the  lawyer,  well 
pleased  with  their  work,  leaning  back  in  his  spring  chair  and 
putting  his  feet  on  the  desk. 

"Say!  What  could  they  say?  They  were  so  badly  scared 
that  they  just  promised  us  everything  if  we  would  not  make 
them  any  trouble." 

"What  did  you  find  in  examining  their  books?" 

"In  the  first  place,"  said  the  detective,  taking  a  chair  and 
putting  his  hat  on  the  table,  "they  were  putting  out  some  very 
flaming  literature.  It  was  so  pulling  that  it  could  just  draw 
the  money  right  out  of  the  investor's  pocket  and  into  theirs, 
and  that  was  where  it  was  going.  They  were  getting  letters 
in  from  the  East  by  the  dozen  every  day,  and  nearly  every 
one  of  them  had  money  in  it.  They  had  a  stream  of  gold 
coming  in  that  was  better  than  a  gold  mine  itself. 

"They  had  a  description  of  a  property  very  much  like  yours. 
I  think  it  is  the  same  property,  really.  They  were  probably 
figuring  on  buying  it  of  you,  and  were  so  sure  that  they  could 
get  it  that  they  printed  the  literature  first  and  had  the  money 
already  on  hand  to  pay  you  for  it.  They  were  peeved  be 
cause  you  wouldn't  sell  it,  for  your  man,  Elmer  Jones,  had 
promised  it  to  them.  Here  is  one  of  their  circulars.  You 
can  see  for  yourself  what  they  were  doing."  Winters  took 
the  circular  and  glanced  over  it. 


MAKING  A  CLEANUP 281 

"What  did  their  minute  book  show  as  to  owning  a  prop 
erty?"  asked  the  lawyer,  after  a  moment. 

"Nothing,  Mr.  Winters.  That's  what  we  got  them  going 
sideways  on.  We  showed  them  what  was  ahead  of  them 
if  we  informed  the  Government  of  that  fact  alone,  and 
we  told  them  that  we  would  certainly  do  that  if  there  was 
another  move  against  you  or  your  company.  When  we  told 
them  they  could  expect  another  term  for  that,  they  begged 
like  good  fellows." 

"That  is  what  I  call  good  work,  boys.  We've  got  them 
going  now.  They  won't  bother  us  any  more,"  said  Winters, 
with  an  air  of  satisfaction.  He  opened  a  small  drawer  at 
the  side  of  his  desk,  took  out  a  box  of  fine  cigars  and  passed 
them  to  the  detectives.  They  all  joined  in  a  friendly  smoke. 

"I  don't  think  they  will,  either.  They  promised  that  they 
would  be  good  if  we  did  not  make  them  any  more  trouble," 
replied  the  detective. 

"Have  they  sold  much  stock?"  inquired  Winters. 

"Much!  Did  you  say  much?  Why,  they  have  already 
sold  upwards  of  a  million  shares,  and  it  was  going  like  'wild 
fire'." 

"What  were  they  getting  a  share  for  it?" 

"Ten  cents  per  share,  Mr.  Winters,  and  they  were  capi 
talized  at  five  million  shares  at  a  par  value  of  one  dollar  per 
share.  They  are  making  the  people  think  they  will  get  rich 
right  away,  so  they  are  buying  the  stock  without  investigat 
ing  the  men  behind  it  or  the  merits  of  the  proposition.  They 
are  simply  trusting  those  fellows  because  their  proposition 
looked  good  on  paper,"  replied  the  detective,  shaking  his  head. 

"It  is  very  funny  to  me  that  people  will  take  up  with  a 
fake  concern  handled  by  a  bunch  of  crooks  like  they  are,"  said 
Winters  curiously. 

"It's  not  funny  at  all,  when  you  come  to  think  of  it.  The 
people  all  seem  to  be  crazy  to  get  rich  for  nothing,  or  as  near 


282 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

that  as  possible,  and  they  will  buy  stock  like  that  because 
it  is  cheap,  and  because  they  are  promised  big  things  for  it. 
They  figure  that  ten  cents  per  share  is  so  cheap  that  they 
will  take  a  'flyer'  on  it,  and  that's  really  all  they  get.  I  never 
heard  of  any  ten  cent  stock  paying  any  profit,  did  you  ?"  asked 
the  detective. 

"No,  I  never  did,"  answered  Winters. 

"What's  more,  you  never  will.  Those  fellows  who  are 
selling  it  know  the  stock  is  worthless  or  they  wouldn't  take 
that  for  it." 

"We  sold  ours  at  fifty  cents  per  share,"  said  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Golden  West  Company,  to  which  the  other  re 
plied  : 

"You  sold  it  at  that  price  because  the  people  who  bought 
it  knew  you  and  knew  that  you  were  reliable,  but  you  couldn't 
sell  the  stock  at  that  price  upon  its  merits  alone,  for  the  people 
wouldn't  pay  that  for  it.  They'd  think  they  were  paying  too 
much.  They  will  get  profits  out  of  your  mine,  though,  be 
cause  you  have  a  good  mine  and  are  the  kind  of  man  who 
will  give  the  people  a  square  deal.  The  fellows  who  were 
buying  this  fake  stock  at  ten  cents,  with  a  five  million  corpora 
tion,  were  paying  the  same  for  their  stock  as  you  got  for 
yours,  with  a  corporation  of  only  one  million  shares.  The 
people  can't  see  it  that  way,  though.  So  many  buy  a  thing 
because  it  is  cheap,  but  you  can  count  upon  it  every  time  that 
the  man  who  tries  to  get  something  for  nothing  is  going  to 
get  beat  at  it.  A  man  with  good  judgment  will  pick  out  a 
thing  with  merit  and  buy  it  on  that  basis.  He  pays  a  reason 
able  price  for  it,  and  gets  something  for  his  money." 

As  he  concluded  the  lawyer  said,  "But  people  do  not  al 
ways  appreciate  honest  business,  boys." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Mr.  Winters  ?" 

"We  are  giving  them  a  square  deal  here  in  our  mine,  but 
you  can't  make  them  think  so.  They  are  always  finding  fault 


MAKING  A  CLEANUP 283 

and  grumbling  at  me,  and  I  am  trying  to  give  them  just  as 
honest  a  deal  as  I  know  how,  but  I'll  bet  those  people  who  are 
putting  their  money  in  that  ten  cent  stock  won't  say  a  word 
if  it  is  lost.  They  just  took  a  'flyer'  and  if  it  is  gone  they 
have  to  let  it  go." 

"You  will  have  their  confidence  pretty  soon,  Mr.  Winters. 
It  is  profits  they  want,  and  when  you  go  to  paying  dividends 
they  will  all  say,  'That  man  Winters  is  all  right!'  The  people 
who  speculate  don't  care  how  you  make  your  money,  just  so 
long  as  they  get  dividends.  I  know  your  mine  is  going  to 
pay  them;  in  fact,  it  is  making  profits  now,  so  you'll  be  all 
right  after  a  while,  if  they  do  complain  against  you 
now." 

"What  amount  of  cash  had  Harding  and  Brooks  taken  in  ?" 
continued  the  lawyer,  for  he  could  not  get  these  men  off  his 
mind,  and  was  somewhat  worried  yet. 

"It  was  hard  to  tell,  as  they  had  not  booked  all  of  it,  but 
we  got  track  of  eighty  thousand  dollars.  That  office  man 
was  the  smoothest  fellow  I  ever  met.  He  was  clever  in  that 
line  of  work  and  he  made  everything  count  that  he  said  or 
did,  or  rather  he  made  it  bring  in  the  money.  He  had  us 
charmed  with  his  smooth  story,  when  we  knew  all  the  time 
that  it  was  a  fake. 

"We  made  Harding' s  acquaintance  on  the  train  to  the  city, 
and  told  him  we  were  Easterners  who  had  recently  come  out 
here  and  that  we  were  looking  for  something  good.  He  took 
us  right  to  his  office  and  introduced  us  to  his  office  man.  Then 
we  bought  some  of  the  stock  with  the  promise  of  taking 
a  lot  more  just  as  soon  as  we  could  send  back  East  and  get 
our  money." 

"What  do  you  think  that  they  are  going  to  do  now  ?"  said 
Winters,  moving  the  papers  about  nervously  on  his  desk. 

"I  don't  know,  and  they  don't  know  either.  They  were 
scared  plumb  silly  over  our  catching  them  as  we  did,  and 


284 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

the  next  day  they  never  came  to  their  office  at  all  during 
working  hours,  but  they  may  have  been  there  in  the  evening." 

"Why  didn't  they  come  to  their  office  ?" 

"They  were  afraid  to.  Their  business  was  crooked,  and 
they  knew  we  had  found  them  out.  It  would  not  surprise 
me  to  hear  that  they  had  moved.  We  told  them  we  would 
keep  an  eye  on  them,  though,  and  the  first  move  they  made 
against  you  here  in  Sacramento  we  would  be  on  their  backs." 

"How  did  they  take  that?"  asked  the  lawyer,  greatly 
pleased  at  the  success  of  his  scheme. 

"They  were  very  much  excited  when  we  told  them  that 
we  knew  their  records  and  that  they  had  done  time.  They 
kept  out  of  our  sight  as  much  as  possible  after  that." 

"Did  you  investigate  their  stock  sales  to  see  what  they 
were  selling?  That  is,  whether  it  was  promotion  or  treas 
ury  stock?"  he  went  on. 

"Yes,  we  did,  Mr.  Winters,  but  it  is  useless  to  think  of  a 
concern  like  that  selling  anything  but  promotion  stock.  All 
of  these  fake  concerns  capitalize  for  large  amounts  and  then 
take  a  goodly  share  of  the  stock  for  themselves.  They  sell 
that  and  then  let  the  thing  go  by  default." 

"What  amount  of  this  stock  was  treasury  and  what  pro 
motion?"  he  asked. 

"They  were  capitalized  for  five  millions,  as  I  said  before. 
They  had  taken  four  millions  of  the  stock  for  themselves  as 
promotion  stock,  and  put  one  million  into  the  treasury.  They 
had  sold  very  little  of  the  treasury  stock,  but  a  great  amount 
of  their  personal  stock." 

"Yes,  I  see,"  said  the  lawyer  seriously,  "that's  the  way 
they  do,  and  the  people,  not  knowing  the  difference,  buy  that 
personal  stock,  thinking  they  are  helping  to  make  a  mine, 
when  the  money  goes  into  the  pockets  of  the  promoters." 

"It  evidently  did  in  this  case,  Mr.  Winters.  They  have 
sold  about  a  million  shares  already  and  if  we  hadn't  run  in  on 


MAKING  A  CLEANUP 285 

them  and  caught  them  outright  they  would  have  sold  all  the 
rest.  Every  mail  brought  new  orders,  and  nearly  every  let 
ter  had  money  in  it." 

"They  must  have  made  a  good  thing  out  of  it,  even  if 
they  did  have  to  quit,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"They  did,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  they  will  get  out  right 
away,  for  they  were  much  alarmed  at  the  turn  things  had 
taken.  They  really  thought  we  were  Government  detectives. 
Say,  but  that  office  man  was  the  hot  stuff.  He  could  talk  an 
arm  off  a  fellow.  Everything  before  me  looked  like  twenty 
dollar  gold  pieces  when  he  got  through  with  his  talk  to  me, 
before  he  found  out  who  we  were.  That  literature  and  his 
letters  were  sure  some  inducement,  too.  I  just  wanted  to  buy 
all  he  had." 

Winters  laughed,  lit  his  cigar  which  had  gone  out,  and 
then  remarked: 

"What  a  shame  such  fellows  do  not  turn  their  attention 
and  talents  to  some  legitimate  business.  They  could  be  of 
great  benefit  to  the  world." 

"Of  course  they  could,  but  you  see  the  fakes  pay  them 
better  money." 

"Why  should  they?  Can't  honest  mining  pay  just  as 
well?"  asked  Winters. 

"No,"  replied  the  detective,  "because  an  honest  business 
has  to  use  its  money  to  develop  the  mine  and  get  it  on  a  pay 
ing  basis.  The  fakes  don't  have  to  do  that.  They  divide  it 
up  among  themselves,  and  the  man  who  is  at  the  head  of 
it  gets  the  biggest  part  of  it." 

The  attorney  listened  closely  until  he  had  finished,  and 
then  he  said:  "Yes,  I  see,  and  it's  a  shame  that  fakes  pay 
better  than  concerns  of  merit." 

Then  the  matter  was  dropped  for  the  time  being.  Weeks 
went  by,  and  even  months,  and  nothing  more  was  heard  from 
the  two  ex-convicts.  The  good  work  of  the  detectives  had 


286 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

evidently  had  its  effect.  Their  office  in  the  Duncamp  Build 
ing  was  closed,  for  they  apparently  feared  another  term  in 
the  State  prison,  and  thought  it  best  to  move.  No  one  knew 
where  they  had  gone,  and  what  was  more,  no  one  seemed 
to  care. 

The  work  at  the  Golden  West  Mine  was  pushed  forward 
rapidly.  The  mill  was  operating  right  along,  more  men 
were  put  to  work,  and  the  returns  began  to  come  in.  Fine, 
large  bars  of  gold  bullion  were  sent  to  the  company's  office 
to  be  shipped  to  the  U.  S.  Mint  at  San  Francisco  and  cashed 
in.  Good  reports  were  sent  to  the  stockholders  and  sufficient 
money  was  soon  in  the  treasury  to  meet  the  payments  on  the 
property.  Some  of  the  men  wanted  to  declare  dividends  and 
send  the  money  to  the  stockholders  to  keep  them  in  good 
humor,  but  Henry  Manning  and  Jack  Winters  would  not  hear 
to  it.  The  property  must  be  paid  for  first,  and  the  deed  safely 
in  the  hands  of  the  company,  then  the  dividends  would  come 
next.  A  great  many  mines  are  wrecked  because  of  incom 
petent  men  at  the  head  who  are  not  farseeing.  These  men 
possessed  great  business  sagacity  and  acted  upon  the  basis  of 
"safety  first."  They  knew  that  if  the  mine  was  paid  for  the 
company  and  all  the  stockholders  would  be  on  the  safe  side, 
so  they  adopted  that  course. 

Many  of  the  stockholders,  when  they  heard  that  gold  was 
being  taken  out  and  spent  in  other  ways,  began  to  write  let 
ters,  saying: 

"We  see  that  you  are  getting  gold  out  of  the  mine  now 
and  we  want  our  part  of  it.  If  you  don't  send  it  right  away 
we  will  think  you  are  stealing  it." 

"It's  a  mighty  hard  proposition  to  please  a  lot  of  people 
who  don't  know  a  thing  about  business  or  mining,"  said 
Winters,  as  he  sat  reading  some  letters  of  this  kind,  "but  we 
will  soon  be  in  shape  to  please  them,  for  I  think  this  mine 
is  going  to  be  a  big  winner.  We  have  money  enough  to  pay 


MAKING  A  CLEANUP 287 

for  the  property,  then  all  of  our  machinery  is  paid  for.  We 
have  ore  enough  developed  ahead  to  keep  us  running  for  a 
year,  and  I  am  sure  in  that  length  of  time  we  can  take  out 
enough  to  pay  all  the  stockholders  back  their  money  and  some 
profits  besides.  Then  we  will  go  on  developing  more  ore, 
and  in  that  way  we  can  keep  it  on  a  paying  basis  for  years  to 
come." 


CHAPTER  XXII 
PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 

The  young  people  were  soon  hard  at  work  at  the  uni 
versity  again.  The  work  that  Lew  had  done  during  the  sum 
mer  under  the  direction  of  the  old  surveyor  had  given  him 
enough  credits  to  advance  him,  so  he  was  put  into  the  junior 
year  of  the  civil  engineering  department.  He  was  secretly 
pleased  that  he  had  left  Jim  Randall  in  the  rear,  for  now  there 
could  be  no  more  ties  between  them. 

So  he  went  on  with  his  work,  specializing  in  his  depart 
ment,  while  all  the  time  he  was  storing  away  data  which  he 
expected  to  use  some  day  in  his  work  of  reclaiming  the 
swamp  lands.  As  the  days  and  months  went  by  Lew  was 
more  convinced  than  ever  that  he  had  a  practical  proposition 
before  him.  He  often  talked  of  it  to  his  friends  and  they  all 
admitted  that  it  was  possible,  but  too  big  a  proposition  for 
a  young  fellow  of  his  age  to  put  through. 

The  school  year  passed  without  incident,  and  Lew  went 
back  to  the  old  surveyor  again  to  work  during  the  next  sum 
mer  at  surveying  the  rivers  and  valley  lands. 

Jim  Randall  had  shown  himself  to  be  such  an  apt  speaker 
and  to  have  so  much  ability  that  he  was  licensed  by  the  Bible 
Seminary  to  preach.  As  a  beginner  he  was  sent  out  to  the 
small  churches  round  about  to  preach  for  them  on  Sundays, 
taking  whatever  the  collection  amounted  to  for  his  services. 
Sometimes  this  was  only  enough  to  pay  his  expenses,  but  he 
did  not  complain.  He  knew  that  he  must  have  the  experi 
ence  and  that  he  would  later  get  a  better  place.  When  there 
was  nothing  else  in  sight  he  would  go  out  to  the  country 
school  houses  and  hold  services  or  organize  Sunday  schools. 

During  the  summer  vacation  he  was  fortunate  enough  to 

288 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 389 

get  steady  work  with  a  small  church,  and  in  that  way  he  saved 
up  some  money  towards  his  next  year's  schooling.  By  con 
tinuing  his  preaching  during  the  school  year  he  put  in 
the  next  term  without  having  to  do  manual  work  about  the 
city.  This  plan  allowed  him  more  time  for  his  school  work, 
and  thus  he  was  able  to  do  good  as  well  as  make  his  own  way 
through  the  last  two  years  of  college.  So  much  speaking  had 
given  him  easiness  of  manner,  grace  on  the  platform  and 
much  experience  as  a  public  speaker,  so  that  by  the  time  he 
had  finished  his  university  course  he  was  ranked  easily  first 
as  an  orator  and  had  won  the  honors  of  the  university  upon 
several  occasions. 

Jim's  line  of  work  caused  him  to  form  different  associa 
tions  from  that  of  Lew  and  Myrtle,  and  he  did  not  see  as 
much  of  them  as  formerly.  In  fact,  not  nearly  as  much  as  he 
wanted  to  see  of  Myrtle.  He  could  only  see  her  when  he 
made  a  special  trip  for  that  purpose,  and  that  was  not  often, 
for  he  did  not  wish  to  offend  Lew.  Yet  his  admiration  for 
the  little  girl  from  Sacramento  was  so  great  that  he  could 
hardly  refrain  from  telling  her  of  it.  Yes,  he  believed  that 
her  affections  were  hanging  between  Lew  and  himself,  but 
for  the  sake  of  the  Mannings,  who  had  befriended  him  so 
greatly,  he  was  not  going  to  be  the  digressor.  He  was  too 
much  of  a  man  to  betray  his  benefactors,  and  yet  his  heart  did 
yearn  and  long  for  Myrtle's  sweet  sympathy  and  companion 
ship.  She  was  just  to  his  liking  and  in  full  sympathy  with 
him  in  his  chosen  work,  but  he  was  determined  that  if  she 
ever  came  to  be  his  companion  it  should  be  by  her  choice  and 
not  by  his  transgression  of  the  friendship  shown  him  by  the 
Mannings. 

Henry  Manning  and  his  wife  were  very  devout  church 
people  and  young  Robert  was  also  religiously  inclined.  But 
Lew,  while  he  was  a  good  boy  and  a  church  member,  did  not 
give  it  much  attention  or  time.  This  was  a  source  of  con- 

19 


290 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

siderable  grief  to  Manning  and  his  wife.  They  wanted  him  to 
be  more  religious,  but  his  work  was  the  center  of  his  thought, 
and  he  gave  it  his  entire  time. 

Quite  a  settlement  had  sprung  up  near  Mr.  Manning's 
home,  and  as  there  was  no  church  nearer  than  Sacramento, 
he  had  erected  a  small  building  on  his  farm  and  started  a 
Sunday  school  in  it.  At  the  end  of  a  year  they  had  decided 
to  send  for  a  minister  and  have  regular  preaching  there. 
James  Randall  had  been  preaching  for  more  than  a  year  now, 
and  when  his  vacation  came  just  before  his  senior  year  he 
was  invited  to  come  out  and  preach  for  them  every  Sunday 
during  the  summer. 

Thus  he  began  his  ministry  among  them.  He  located  a 
number  of  people  in  the  neighborhood  who  formerly  had 
been  Christians  and  got  them  to  come  to  church.  Then  he 
held  a  series  of  meetings,  preaching  every  evening  in  the 
week,  until  a  number  of  converts  were  added  to  the  church. 
Altogether,  his  ministry  was  very  successful  during  the  three 
months  he  was  there. 

Lew  Manning  had  finished  his  course  in  the  university 
and  had  come  home  to  prepare  for  the  launching  of  his  great 
enterprise.  He  was  making  his  maps  and  getting  his  data 
ready  to  use  before  the  Congressmen  and  Senators.  Myrtle 
still  had  another  year  in  college  and  it  was  a  source  of  regret 
to  her  that  she  was  to  return  without  the  company  of  Lew, 
who  had  been  her  constant  companion  for  the  past  seven 
years. 

During  his  course  at  the  university  Lew  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  young  medical  student,  Dr.  R.  C.  Gordon, 
who  was  specializing  in  surgery.  He  had  conceived  the  idea 
that  most  cases  of  insanity  and  crime  were  caused  by  some 
defective  part  of  the  skull  pressing  upon  certain  parts  of  the 
brain,  and  he  believed  that  this  pressure  could  be  relieved  and 
the  patient  cured  by  an  operation  performed  by  a  skillful 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 291 

surgeon.  He  also  believed  that  phrenology,  the  science  which 
determines  the  qualities  of  the  mind  by  the  form  of  the  brain, 
was  a  necessary  asset  in  this  line  of  work.  He  maintained 
that  a  normal  shaped  skull  could  not  help  but  contain  a  normal 
brain,  and  that  a  normal  brain  would  insure  a  normal  mind. 

He  was  loud  in  his  claims  that  all  crime  was  the  effect  of 
an  abnormal  brain,  which  led  the  mind  in  the  wrong  chan 
nels,  and  that  by  curing  the  defect  the  desire  for  crime  would 
disappear.  He  believed  that  by  directing  the  mind  in  the 
proper  channels  the  criminal  would  become  a  useful  citizen, 
and  he  also  believed  that  a  majority  of  the  insane  could  be 
cured  by  the  skilled  surgeon's  knife. 

Lew  became  very  much  interested  in  the  claims  put  forth 
by  the  Doctor.  He  spent  considerable  time  investigating  it 
himself  under  the  direction  of  the  Doctor,  who  had  become 
his  fast  friend,  but  who  could  not  understand  why  a  man  in 
the  engineering  department  should  become  so  interested  in  a 
study  so  far  removed  from  his  own. 

Day  by  day  the  friendship  continued  to  grow  between  the 
two  young  men.  Lew  often  accompanied  the  Doctor  to  the 
operating  room  to  see  how  skillfully  his  friend  handled  the 
knife  and  to  watch  the  results  of  the  operations,  not  only 
temporary  results,  but  permanent  ones.  He  took  so  much 
interest  in  it  that  Dr.  Gordon,  and  even  some  of  the  pro 
fessors,  wondered  if  he  was  not  going  to  change  his  course 
and  study  surgery. 

But  Lew  said  nothing  as  to  his  reason  for  the  interest  he 
was  taking  in  it.  He  simply  devoted  all  the  time  he  could 
spare  from  his  engineering  studies  to  this  line  of  work,  and 
before  his  senior  year  was  closed  he  was  almost  as  well  posted 
upon  the  subject  as  the  Doctor  himself. 

One  day  Gordon  determined  to  find  out  if  he  could  what 
caused  his  friend  to  spend  so  much  of  his  time  upon  a  sub 
ject  so  foreign  to  his  own  work,  and  asked : 


293 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Lew,  you've  had  me  guessing  about  you  for  a  long  time. 
I  have  been  studying  your  actions  and  the  interest  you  have 
manifested  in  my  work,  which  is  so  out  of  your  line,  but  I 
must  confess  that  I  don't  understand  you,"  and  the  Doctor 
laid  his  book  down  and  turned  around  to  see  how  Lew  would 
answer  him. 

"Well,  you  are  studying  phrenology,"  said  Lew,  laugh 
ingly.  "It  seems  to  me  that  you  might  tell  by  running  your 
hand  over  the  bumps  on  my  cranium." 

"Yes,  but  you  don't  give  evidence  of  any  defect,"  answered 
the  Doctor,  more  puzzled  than  ever.  "You  are  all  business, 
and  there  is  more  to  this  interest  you  have  shown  than  mere 
curiosity.  You  have  not  only  got  me  guessing,  but  all  the 
professors  as  well." 

"I  beg  your  pardon  if  I  am  causing  you  any  annoyance," 
replied  Lew,  trying  to  turn  the  subject.  "I  am  here  for  an 
education  and  I  became  interested  in  your  talk  about  this  line 
of  surgery  and  decided  to  learn  what  I  could  about  it." 

"Yes,  Lew,  I  understand  that,  but  I  am  convinced  that 
there  is  more  than  curiosity  in  your  case.  Won't  you  tell  me 
what  is  in  your  mind  ?" 

Lew  was  undecided  as  to  how  he  could  answer  his  friend. 
It  was  a  very  delicate  subject  to  him,  one  about  which  his 
people  rarely  spoke,  and  no  one  knew  of  it  except  the  few 
who  came  with  them  from  their  section  of  Missouri.  For 
the  sake  of  Mrs.  Manning,  who  felt  so  badly  about  it,  it  was 
rarely,  if  ever,  mentioned,  but  at  last  he  decided  to  make 
known  his  unusual  interest  in  surgery  to  his  friend,  and  re 
plied  : 

"Doctor,  if  I  tell  you  will  you  promise  me  that  you  will 
say  nothing  to  any  one  about  it?  There  is  a  secret  about  it 
that  I  do  not  care  to  have  get  out  here.  If  you  will  promise 
me  I  will  tell  you." 

The   Doctor   extended   his   hand  to   Lew   and   said,   "As 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 293 

surely  as  I  shake  your  hand  now  I  will  never  mention  it 
without  your  consent." 

Lew  slowly  took  his  hand,  and  at  the  same  time  looked 
his  friend  fully  in  the  face  to  see  if  he  really  meant  what  he 
said.  Then  he  began: 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  Doctor,  I  am  studying  you  as  much 
as  I  am  studying  surgery.  I  am  watching  every  move  you 
make  and  every  case  you  handle.  I  have  a  case  for  some  com 
petent  surgeon,  and  I  believe  you  are  the  man  I  am  looking 
for.  I  will  wait,  however,  until  you  have  finished  your  work 
here,  and  then  if  your  patients  respond  to  your  treatment,  as 
you  claim,  I  will  have  a  job  for  you." 

"Oh,  I  see,  Lew.  Some  friend  is  suffering  from  cerebral 
depression?"  asked  the  Doctor,  who  now  saw  through  the 
mystery. 

"Friend?"  said  Lew,  sadly.  "It  is  more  than  a  friend. 
It  is  my  sister." 

"Your  sister?"  demanded  the  Doctor  in  astonishment. 
"What  is  the  cause  of  her  trouble,  Lew?" 

"Well,  it  is  not  just  clear  to  the  doctors  who  have  had  her 
in  charge,"  he  replied  with  some  disgust,  "but  it  is  perfectly 
clear  to  me  now,  since  I  have  become  interested  in  your  work. 
It  never  was  before,  but  I  can  see  it  all  now." 

"Will  you  state  her  case  to  me,  or  better  still,  let  me  make 
an  examination  of  her?"  asked  the  Doctor,  who  was  becoming 
interested  on  behalf  of  his  friend. 

"It  happened  this  way,"  Lew  finally  replied.  "Eight 
years  ago  she  was  a  bright  little  girl  of  nine  years.  One  day 
back  in  Missouri  she  disobeyed  her  mother,  who  gave  her  a 
slap  to  punish  her.  The  child  fell  down  an  open  cellar  door 
and  struck  her  head  on  a  stone  floor.  She  has  never  been  ra 
tional  since.  She  was  in  a  hospital  for  months,  but  they  could 
do  nothing  for  her,  and  finally  she  was  placed  in  the  school 
for  the  feebleminded,  and  she  is  there  yet,  but  has  never 


294 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

known  her  parents  or  friends  from  that  day  to  this.  She  has 
a  fine  physique  and  has  perfect  health  otherwise.  She  is 
really  a  beautiful  girl.  I  am  convinced  that  you  can  relieve 
the  depression  upon  her  brain  and  cure  her  by  your  method 
of  treatment." 

The  Doctor  listened  to  this  story  with  much  interest,  and 
then  said :  "It  is  a  very  simple  case,  Lew.  There  would  be 
but  the  slightest  chance  of  danger  in  a  case  of  that  kind  and 
everything  to  gain.  She  will  never  be  any  different  if  al 
lowed  to  go  without  an  operation,  but  there  is  not  a  doubt 
but  that  she  can  be  cured." 

"I  believe  you,  Doctor,"  said  Lew  with  confidence,  "and 
that  is  why  I  have  gone  into  this  study  as  I  have.  I  deter 
mined  to  know  what  it  was  and  what  it  could  do  before  I  said 
anything  to  you  about  it.  I  will  wait  now  until  you  get 
through  your  work  here  and  then  we  will  go  to  Missouri  and 
examine  the  girl.  If  you  can  cure  her  I  can  promise  you 
ten  thousand  dollars  cash,  but  if  you  can't  there  is  not  a  cent 
in  it  for  you." 

"I  will  take  you  up  on  that,  Lew,"  said  the  Doctor,  very 
confident  of  his  ability  to  cure  the  girl.  "Whenever  you  are 
ready  let  me  know  and  we  will  go  and  give  her  the  best  at 
tention  that  medical  skill  can  provide.  I'll  take  the  old  pro 
fessor  along,  if  you  think  it  best." 

"I  agree  to  it,"  replied  Lew,  "but  don't  say  a  word  until 
I  am  ready  for  you.  I'll  let  you  know  in  time  to  make  your 
arrangements." 

"  'Mum'  is  the  word,  Lew,"  he  replied.  "I  am  at  your 
services  any  time." 

Lew  had  not  be-en  at  home  many  days  when  he  had  a 
caller.  It  was  the  old  surveyor. 

"I  heard  you  were  here  and  decided  to  come  and  see  you. 
I  have  a  little  additional  data  that  I  thought  might  be  useful 
to  you,  young  fellow,  if  you  are  still  full  of  the  reclamation 
project?" 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 295 

"Full  of  it2  did  you  say?"  asked  Lew,  surprised  at  such 
a  question. 

"Yes,  I  know  you  were  when  I  left  you  any  way,"  with 
a  twinkle  of  his  eye. 

"Full  is  right,  and  I'm  just  bubbling  over  with  it  yet,"  he 
answered,  seriously. 

"All  right,  then.  I  have  looked  up  the  swamp  land  propo 
sition  and  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  you  will  have  to  revise 
your  plan  a  little." 

"Why,  what  have  you  found  out?"  he  anxiously  asked, 
fearing  something  that  might  upset  his  plan. 

"I  found  by  examination  of  the  records  at  the  Surveyor 
General's  office  that  the  swamp  lands  do  not  belong  to  the 
Government  at  all." 

"That's  news  to  me.  I  understood  that  they  did,"  sur 
prise  denoting  itself  in  his  voice  and  face. 

"You  were  mistaken.  All  of  the  swamp  lands  of  this 
state  were  granted  to  the  state  of  California  by  the  national 
Government  on  September  28,  1850,  for  the  purpose  of 
reclamation  by  the  state,  but  since  then  they  have  been  dis 
posed  of,  and  now  belong  to  individuals  and  syndicates,"  said 
the  surveyor,  emphatically. 

Lew  was  quiet  a  moment,  evidently  thinking  hard,  then 
he  said: 

"That  won't  change  the  proposition  any,  Mr.  Roe,  so  far 
as  the  plan  is  concerned,  for  the  swamp  lands  are  there  just 
the  same  and  we  can  reclaim  them  for  individuals  and  syndi 
cates  just  as  well  as  for  the  Government.  It  may  make  a 
difference,  though,  in  getting  the  appropriation,  for  Congress 
would  act  more  quickly  if  it  was  Government  land." 

"I  knew  that,  so  I  came  to  tell  you  before  you  started 
out,"  said  Roe. 

"That  was  thoughtful  of  you,  Mr.  Roe,  and  just  like  you, 
too." 


296 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  have  some  other  information  for  you,  too,  that  might 
be  interesting,"  he  continued. 

"You're  the  kind  of  friend  to  have,  all  right.  I'm  ready 
for  it,"  laughed  Lew. 

"Well,  I  just  came  from  the  dredging  district  at  Oroville 
and  I  thought  I  would  come  and  see  if  you  wouldn't  go  up 
there  with  me  and  see  that  proposition,  Lew . " 

"Why,  what  about  it?"  wondering  what  was  coming  next. 

"It  is  a  great  success,"  was  his  quick  rejoinder. 

"So  I  understood,  but  what  about  it?  What  have  you  in 
mind,  Mr.  Roe?" 

"I  am  afraid  that  there  is  going  to  be  a  feature  in  it  that 
will  necessitate  other  changes  in  your  plan." 

"Perhaps  so,  but  I  bet  I  can  guess  what  you  are  going  to 
say.  I  am  watching  that  proposition  pretty  closely  myself 
and  in  the  mining  journals,  but  I  would  enjoy  a  trip  up  there 
with  you." 

"I  haven't  read  what  the  mining  journals  have  to  say 
about  it,  but  I  have  been  at  the  works,  and  I  must  confess 
that  I  have  had  a  new  vision  of  this  old  Sacramento  valley, 
or  a  big  part  of  it." 

"You  refer  to  the  extensiveness  of  the  dredging  fields,  I 
presume  ?" 

"That's  it  exactly,  young  fellow.  I'm  thinking  that  you 
will  have  enough  to  do  up  there  without  bothering  about  the 
swamps  when  those  dredgers  get  through  with  it." 

Lew  listened  attentively  to  this,  and  then  exclaimed, 
"They  are  not  going  to  dredge  all  of  this  valley,  I  hope !" 

"I'm  not  so  sure  about  that.  I  am  convinced  that  the  big 
ger  part  of  it  would  be  productive  if  it  were  not  so  deep  to 
bedrock  in  places." 

"I  see.  But  tell  me  about  your  new  discoveries,"  de 
manded  the  boy,  as  he  and  the  old  man  seated  themselves  on 
a  bench  in  the  shade  of  a  pepper  tree. 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 297 

"Well,  you  see  nearly  all  of  this  valley  has  a  very  rich 
deposit  of  placer  gold  at  the  bedrock  that  is  covered  over  with 
gravel,  sand  and  soil.  The  gold  was  deposited  here  during 
the  tertiary  age,  or  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  deposited 
in  those  ancient  river  and  gravel  beds  in  the  hills.  The  best 
of  it  was  carried  to  this  valley,  though,  and  here  under  this 
soil  is  some  of  the  richest  gold  deposits  in  the  world,  if  we 
just  knew  where  to  find  them.  Of  course,  there  are  gold 
deposits  all  over  the  bedrock  in  this  valley,  but  in  some  places 
it  is  richer  than  in  others.  Most  of  it  is  covered  up  so  deeply 
that  we  can't  get  at  it.  It  is  even  too  deep  for  dredging,  un 
less  they  get  a  new  process  so  that  they  can  go  deeper. 

"As  it  is,  there  are  thousands  of  acres  that  can  be  dredged 
and  will  be.  It  is  all  good  land  on  the  surface  now,  but  when 
it  is  dredged  the  water  will  carry  down  all  the  soil  to  the  bed 
rock  and  leave  the  rock  on  top.  That  will  make  the  whole 
dredged  surface  worthless — nothing  but  a  rock  pile.  I  am 
thinking  that  right  there  will  be  the  place  for  your  debris, 
for  I  believe  the  whole  valley  will  be  dredged  and  you  can 
use  all  you  can  get  hold  of." 

Lew  enjoyed  his  talk,  and  when  he  finished  said,  "I  ex 
pect  a  lot  of  it  will  be  dredged  all  right  and  it  will  pay  big, 
too,  but  I  have  a  plan  to  help  that  some.  I  have  gone  over 
it  in  my  mind  and  I  think  I  have  the  right  idea.  Whether  it 
can  be  put  into  effect  or  not  is  another  question." 

"Let's  have  it  then,"  knowing  Lew  was  equal  to  almost 
any  emergency. 

I  think  the  state  ought  to  prohibit  by  law  the  destruc 
tion  of  good  agricultural  lands.  I  don't  mean  to  prohibit 
dredging,  but  to  compel  those  who  dredge  to  remove  the  soil 
before  they  dredge  it,  level  the  rock  piles  down  after  it  is 
done,  and  put  the  soil  back  on  it  again.  It  could  be  done 
with  teams  and  wagons,  and  in  many  cases  with  scrapers,  but 
I  believe  I  could  invent  an  endless  belt  that  would  do  the 
business." 


298 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  guess  you  are  right  about  that,  too,"  answered  Roe 
quickly.  "It  certainly  is  wrong  to  allow  our  good  valley 
lands  to  be  ruined  for  all  time  to  come,  just  for  the  gold  that 
will  be  secured  for  the  present  owners.  This  land  will  be 
useful  for  many  generations,  and  will  benefit  many  people 
if  it  is  left  as  it  is.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  is  dredged  it  only 
benefits  the  person  who  owns  the  land  and  ruins  it  for  any 
thing  else.  If  you  can  get  the  State  Legislature  to  pass  such 
a  law  you  will  certainly  do  your  state  a  great  good,  for  I 
agree  with  you  that  it  is  heartless  to  destroy  the  lands  this 
way." 

"Your  plan  of  moving  the  soil  back  on  the  dredged  land 
is  all  right  if  you  can  get  it  enacted  into  a  law.  It  ought  to 
be  done,  too.  I  wish  we  had  just  about  fifty  such  active, 
thinking  young  fellows  to  turn  loose  in  the  state  as  you  are, 
Lew,  and  we  would  have  a  better  condition  of  affairs  here. 
Some  of  the  other  states  would  soon  be  calling  for  you,  too," 
said  the  surveyor,  who  took  great  pride  in  Lew. 

"I  don't  know  about  that,  but  I  am  just  seeing  the  things 
that  are  here  in  plain  sight  and  that  everybody  ought  to  see 
and  be  interested  in,"  replied  Lew. 

"That's  true,  Lew,  but  they  don't  see  them.  I  never  saw 
them  myself  until  you  called  my  attention  to  them.  Then  I 
became  fired  with  the  idea  myself,  but  my  age  is  against  me. 
I  have  served  my  time,  and  I  don't  feel  like  beginning  any 
thing  new  any  more." 

"Your  counsel  and  suggestions  have  been  worth  a  lot  to 
me,  Mr.  Roe,  besides  the  encouragement  you  have  given  me. 
Really,  I  wouldn't  have  been  surprised  if  you  had  turned  the 
thing  down  from  the  start,  but  instead  you  said  it  was  both 
reasonable  and  possible.  I  knew  if  you  said  it  you  really 
believed  it,  for  you  never  talk  for  pastime." 

"You  are  right.  The  plan  you  have  worked  out  is  not 
only  feasible,  but  possible,  and  if  I  were  younger  I  would  be 
with  you  in  your  project,"  he  said,  patting  Lew  on  the  back. 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 299 

The  next  morning  Lew  and  Mr.  Roe  mounted  their  horses 
and  started  for  Oroville  to  visit  the  dredging  camps.  They 
found  a  number  of  very  large  dredgers  at  work,  which  were 
constructed  like  a  great  boat  with  the  hull  water  tight.  They 
were  floated  in  an  artificial  pond  dug  for  the  purpose  and 
filled  with  water  from  a  pipeline.  A  huge  crane  extended 
out  from  it,  on  which  was  an  endless  belt  of  giant  iron  or 
steel  cups.  As  this  crane  was  dipped  into  the  water  it  dug  up 
soil  and  carried  it  to  the  machinery  in  the  boat.  This  dirt 
was  all  dissolved  and  washed  over  a  sluice  containing  riffles 
with  quicksilver  in  them.  The  gold  thus  liberated  lodged  in 
the  riffles  as  the  water  washed  over.  All  the  fine  gold  was 
caught  by  the  quicksilver,  but  the  rocks  were  caught  on  a 
long  endless  belt  and  tailed  off  to  the  rear  of  the  machine.  It 
was  not  unlike  the  straw  carrier  of  a  threshing  machine.  If 
the  dredger  stood  long  in  one  position  the  pile  of  boulders 
in  the  rear  would  pile  up  in  great  heaps. 

In  one  sense  it  was  a  sickening  sight  for  young  Manning, 
for  the  ground  that  they  were  dredging  was  set  to  beautiful 
vineyards  and  orchards.  To  see  the  fine  fruit  trees,  loaded 
with  growing  fruit,  destroyed  and  the  loaded  vines  rooted  up 
while  nothing  but  rock  piles  were  left  in  their  stead,  seemed 
like  wanton  destruction  to  everyone  except  the  parties  who 
were  filling  their  coffers  with  gold.  Fine  farm  houses  were 
moved  and  the  fields  and  pastures  all  went.  Even  in  the  city 
of  Oroville  town  lots  and  streets  were  turned  upside  down 
for  the  precious  metal.  Homes  were  destroyed  and  a  beau 
tiful  city,  was  threatened  with  ruin  by  the  greed  of  the 
mining  men.  That  which  would  be  useful  and  beautiful  for 
centuries  to  come  would  be  turned  to  waste  unless  some  way 
could  be  devised  to  redeem  dredged  land.  There  were  not 
the  only  dredgers,  for  dozens  were  in  building,  and  it  looked 
as  though  the  whole  beautiful  valley  of  the  Sacramento  was 
doomed  to  the  savage  work  of  the  gold  seeker. 


300 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Well,"  said  one,  "the  land  is  ours,  and  what  can  you  do 
about  it?" 

In  a  sense  it  was  their  own,  but  the  laws  of  the  state 
should  prohibit  the  destruction  of  that  which  destroys  the 
wealth  of  the  state  and  the  use  of  the  lands  for  future  genera 
tions.  The  state  or  the  county  cannot  get  taxes  on  it  after 
it  is  dredged.  It  is  worthless.  It  is  destroyed.  It's  true  that 
dredging  pays,  and  pays  big,  too;  many  times  thousands  of 
dollars  to  the  acre,  and  there  are  untold  millions  there  yet — 
yes,  I  might  say  billions. 

It  washed  down  there  in  the  early  days  when  the  streams 
were  large  and  rapid.  This  gold  was  liberated  by  erosion 
and  the  disintegration  of  the  rocks  in  which  it  was  deposited. 
The  rapidly  flowing  streams  carried  it  to  the  valley  below, 
where  it  found  a  resting  place  near  the  bedrock.  Of  course, 
some  of  it  lodged  in  the  hills  in  the  gravel  beds  there,  made 
by  volcanic  disturbances  and  flowing  lava.  It  is  the  opinion, 
though,  of  good  mining  engineers  that  where  there  are  mil 
lions  yet  left  in  the  hills  there  are  billions  deposited  in  the 
valleys  and  covered  up  many  feet  deep  with  the  subsequent 
wash  or  the  debris  of  many  thousands  of  years.  I  presume 
the  greater  part  of  this  gold  will  never  be  recovered,  owing 
to  the  depth  of  the  debris  on  top  of  it  in  places,  and  that  also 
laws  will  be  enacted  which  will  prevent  the  destruction  of 
good  land  for  its  reclamation. 

The  dredgers  are  a  wonderful  success,  but  they  are  a  very 
costly  piece  of  machinery.  The  ordinary  dredger  in  use  in  that 
field  usually  costs  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  build  and 
set  in  operation,  but  it  soon  pays  for  itself  when  once  run 
ning.  They  operate  it  for  about  a  month  and  then  make  a 
cleanup.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  from  thirty  to 
forty  thousand  dollars  in  the  sluice  at  a  single  cleanup.  It  is 
both  easy  and  pleasant  mining,  the  men  working  under  a 
roof,  rather  than  underground,  and  having  daylight  and  sun- 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 301 

light  in  place  of  candle  light  to  work  by.  The  machinery  is 
operated  by  electricity,  which  is  brought  in  large  cables  from 
the  power  companies. 

Many  of  these  dredgers  are  built  and  operated  by  rich 
syndicates,  which  can  finance  the  building  of  the  dredger  and 
buy  the  lands  to  be  dredged.  Some  of  them  are  built  by 
stock  companies  and  a  few  people  derive  profits  from  that 
source,  but  it  takes  so  much  money  to  build  and  get  a  dredge 
in  operation  that  but  few  are  able  to  finance  them  in  this  day 
of  fakes.  People  have  been  deceived  and  lost  their  savings 
so  often  by  going  into  something  like  Harding's  and  Brooks' 
fake  mining  scheme  that  they  are  suspicious  of  the  good  and 
meritorious  investments  that  are  offered  the  public.  Because 
some  have  been  fakes  is  no  reason  why  all  are  bad  any  more 
than  because  one  bank  fails  all  banks  are  bad.  Any  one  in 
vesting  in  anything  of  this  kind  should  know  their  men  and 
the  merits  of  the  proposition  first  and  then  invest  accordingly. 
Anything  looks  good  on  paper  when  a  clever  man  writes  it. 
One  had  better  spend  a  part  of  his  savings  in  learning  first 
that  the  proposition  is  all  it  is  represented  to  be. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  not  every  mining 
scheme  that  fails  is  a  "fake,"  for  some  honest  people  engaged 
in  the  business  are  sometimes  fooled  in  their  own  proposi 
tions,  believing  that  they  have  good  properties,  while  they  go 
ahead  and  develop  the  same,  only  to  find  that  the  values  are 
not  there  or  not  in  sufficient  quantities  to  pay  for  the 
taking  out.  One  man  can  see  just  as  far  in  the  ground  as 
another,  and  no  one  knows  what  values  are  there  until  they 
have  been  taken  out. 

Again,  both  good  and  valuable  properties  fail  because  of 
the  mismanagement  of  those  in  charge  or  because  of  friction 
between  the  stockholders  and  officers.  This  ought  not  to  be, 
but  sometimes  the  selfishness  of  one  has  upset  what  might 
have  made  money  for  all  with  a  handsome  profit. 


302 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Then  it  is  not  an  infrequent  thing  for  good  mining  proper 
ties,  managed  by  competent  men,  to  fail  for  the  want  of  suffi 
cient  capital  to  put  it  upon  a  paying  basis.  Many  proposi 
tions  are  started  without  any  money  on  hand  at  all,  expecting 
to  sell  sufficient  stock  to  pay  the  expenses  as  they  go  along. 
So  they  build  a  stamp  mill  or  put  in  other  needed  machinery 
and  hope  to  soon  open  up  a  rich  ledge  that  will  pan  out  with 
large  profits.  Then  something  prevents  the  sale  of  suffi 
cient  stock  to  carry  the  proposition  through  to  a  paying  basis, 
let  the  property  be  ever  so  good,  and  it  fails.  It  is  classed  as 
another  "fake,"  when  it  was  far  from  being  that.  There  are 
many  good  mines  with  great  values  which  could  be  worked 
with  large  profit  under  the  proper  management  and  with  suffi 
cient  capital  to  put  them  upon  a  paying  basis. 

The  investing  or  speculative  public  should  steer  clear  of 
concerns  with  large  capitalization  handled  by  slick  brokers  or 
professional  promoters  in  fine  offices  with  mahogany  furni 
ture,  and  with  officers  who  ride  in  expensive  automobiles  and 
entertain  lavishly,  for  that  is  where  the  investor's  money  is 
probably  going  instead  of  in  developing  a  mine.  The  pro 
moter  is  having  a  good  time  with  your  money,  while  you  are 
living  in  hopes  of  big  returns  which  will  never  come.  That 
kind  of  men  never  intend  to  pay  dividends  or  even  make  a 
mine  of  the  scheme. 

But  there  should  be  encouragement  for  the  small  investor 
under  the  proper  circumstances.  Many  persons  in  meager 
circumstances  could  help  themselves  to  independence  by  such 
investments,  but  they  must  remember  that  not  all  that  glitters 
is  gold.  Promoters  can  put  up  some  very  charming  things 
on  paper  and  deceive  many  if  the  proper  investigations  are 
not  made  to  learn  the  standing  and  the  reliability  of  the  men 
behind  them.  If  a  number  of  men  wishing  to  invest  would 
get  together  and  agree  to  finance  a  mining  proposition  and 
they  find  it  is  all  right  upon  investigation,  then  they  should 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 303 

send  some  well  known,  competent  men  to  look  after  its  in 
terests.  In  this  way  one  need  never  fear  as  to  its  being  a 
safe  investment.  The  merits  of  a  mine  can  be  learned  from 
people  who  know  and  yet  have  no  interest  in  it.  They  are  the 
best  judges,  for  their  judgment  is  unbiased  and  given  from  an 
outsider's  standpoint.  They  can  inform  one  as  to  the  char 
acter  and  honesty  of  its  men,  and  they  can  see  the  progress 
and  the  development  of  the  property  without  prejudice. 

The  small  investor  should  beware  of  the  schemes  which 
are  controlled  by  "Big  Business."  Banks  and  rich  men,  as  a 
rule,  do  not  put  their  money  into  any  proposition  unless  they 
have  a  controlling  interest  in  it.  They  handle  it  in  a  cold 
blooded  businesslike  way,  and  whenever  they  get  tired  of  the 
small  investor  being  in  it  they  can  easily  assess  him  out  or 
close  down  and  cause  him  to  sell  out  for  a  song.  Then,  of 
course,  they  buy  in  the  stock  and  revive  the  enterprise,  only 
to  sell  again  at  a  great  profit  to  themselves.  As  a  rule  the 
small  investor  stands  but  little  show  in  such  schemes  con 
trolled  by  "Big  Business,"  for  it  has  no  use  for  them  only 
as  they  can  be  used  to  advantage  to  itself. 

There  is  a  better  chance  now  for  the  investing  public, 
though,  as  the  U.  S.  Government  has  taken  very  stringent 
means  to  search  out  and  punish  the  "fake"  broker  who  uses 
the  U.  S.  mail  for  fraudulent  purposes.  This  law  is  becom 
ing  stricter  every  day,  and  it  has  now  made  it  almost  im 
possible  for  the  faker  to  operate  long  without  being  caught. 
What  we  really  should  have  is  a  national  corporation  law. 
Concerns  offering  to  sell  stock  to  the  investing  public 
should  be  compelled  to  put  up  a  bond  for  the  faithful  per 
formance  of  the  proposed  work  and  to  render  a  proper  ac 
count  for  the  use  of  the  stockholder's  money.  That  would 
make  mining  investments  a  reliable  business  and  a  safe  specu 
lation,  for  such  it  is. 

There  are  people  everywhere  of  a  speculative  disposition 


304 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

who  will  bet  on  something,  if  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  dog 
fight.  They  will  take  a  "flyer"  on  something  because  it  is 
cheap,  and  a  "flyer"  is  all  they  ever  get.  They  are  not  satis 
fied  if  they  aren't  speculating  on  something,  This  kind  of 
people  are  easy  prey  for  the  "fake"  schemers,  for  if  they  lose 
they  turn  around  and  do  the  same  thing  over  again. 

Mining  as  a  business  is  as  honorable  as  any  other  busi 
ness  if  it  is  conducted  by  honest  men  upon  a  business  basis. 
Many  of  the  nation's  great  men  have  made  their  fortunes 
from  their  mining  investments.  Thousands  of  men  and 
women  have  made  fortunes  from  the  various  kinds  of  mines, 
and  the  great  industry  is  just  in  its  infancy.  It  brings  wealth 
to  the  world  and  no  one  is  made  poorer  by  one  becoming 
rich.  To  destroy  our  mining  industry  would  empty  our  coal 
bins,  close  down  the  factories,  destroy  the  great  steel  and  iron 
industries,  cause  a  famine  in  the  gold  and  silver  markets,  and 
would  stop  practically  every  line  of  industry,  for  they  all  de 
pend  in  some  way  upon  the  products  from  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  for  their  existence.  The  great  Creator  who  made  both 
the  earth  and  man  knew  what  was  needful  for  mankind  to  give 
him  a  livelihood,  so  these  elements  were  placed  where  they 
were  needed  and  man  was  given  the  wisdom  to  find  them  and 
use  them  for  the  good  of  humanity.  Let  us  not  condemn  the 
great  industry,  but  bring  it  rather  under  the  proper  regula 
tions,  so  as  to  make  it  safe  both  for  the  man  who  works  in  the 

mines  and  for  the  one  who  invests  his  money  in  it. 

********** 

On  Saturday  morning,  when  the  Overland  train  came  into 
Sacramento  from  the  East,  a  man  hurriedly  alighted  from  it 
and  rushed  to  the  office  of  the  Golden  West  Mining  Com 
pany  and  asked  to  see  Jack  Winters  at  once.  When  he  was 
told  that  Mr.  Winters  was  busy  upon  some  special  work  and 
did  not  want  to  be  disturbed,  he  replied : 

"He  must  be  disturbed.     There  is  nothing  of  more  im- 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 305 

portance  than  the  news  I  am  bringing  to  him  from  the  mine, 
and  I  must  see  him  at  once." 

"What  is  your  name?  I  will  tell  him  that  you  are  here," 
said  the  clerk. 

"Just  tell  him  that  the  detective  from  the  mine  is  here 
with  a  very  important  message,  and  one  that  will  not  wait." 

"Very  well,  then.    I  will  tell  him." 

The  clerk  opened  the  door  and  conveyed  the  message  to 
Mr.  Winters,  who  was  not  at  all  pleased  at  the  disturbance, 
but  admitted  the  man  and  said : 

"Well,  Bill,  what  is  it  that  is  so  very  important?" 

"Has  the  Golden  West  Mining  Company  got  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  that  can  be  gotten  hold  of  before  the 
bank  closes  today  at  noon?"  he  asked  quickly. 

"I  don't  know,  Bill,  but  why  do  you  ask?" 

"Well,  if  you  want  to"  save  the  property  called  the  Gideon 
Mine  you  will  have  to  get  it  this  very  day,"  he  replied,  very 
earnestly. 

"What's  up  now?"  asked  Winters,  now  thoroughly 
roused. 

"I  mean  just  what  I  say.  Unless  you  can  get  that  money 
to  those  men  of  whom  you  are  buying  the  property  before 
Monday  morning  you  will  be  dispossessed  of  the  mine.  There 
is  a  plan  on  foot  now  to  forfeit  the  contract  on  you." 

"Upon  what  basis,  and  what  is  the  object?"  asked  Winters 
sharply. 

"The  contract  requires  that  a  ten  per  cent  royalty  shall 
be  turned  over  to  them  to  apply  upon  the  purchase  price,  and 
that  has  not  been  done.  They  are  going  to  declare  the  con 
tract  violated  on  your  part  upon  this  technicality.  Their  ob 
ject  is  to  get  the  mine  back,  now  that  you  have  improved  it 
and  have  plenty  of  ore  blocked  out  for  mining  and  all 
equipped  with  good  machinery.  They  want  to  get  all  that  for 
nothing,"  replied  the  detective. 

20 


306 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"How  do  you  know  these  things,  Bill?"  asked  the  lawyer, 
surprised  that  the  detective  should  know  so  much  about  it. 

"Know  them?  Why,  I  just  came  from  there.  I  was  at 
the  bank  and  happened  to  hear  those  mine  owners  talking  it 
over.  They  didn't  know  who  I  was,  but  I  had  heard  a  rumor 
that  something  was  up,  so  I  just  hung  around  there  writing 
and  figuring  until  I  got  close  enough  to  hear  them  talking, 
and  I  heard  the  owner  give  orders  to  his  attorney  to  draw 
the  papers  and  have  them  ready  for  service  on  you  next  Mon 
day  morning,  and  to  have  the  men  ready  to  take  possession 
of  the  mine,  too." 

"You  heard  it  all,  and  are  sure  of  what  you  are  talking 
about,  Bill?"  asked  the  lawyer,  to  which  the  detective  re 
plied  : 

"I  surely  do,  Mr.  Winters." 

"What  is  your  idea  about  it,  Bill?  What  do  you  think  we 
ought  to  do?" 

"Your  payments  are  all  to  be  made  at  the  bank  up  there, 
aren't  they?" 

"Yes,  but  the  first  one  is  not  due  for  two  weeks  yet." 

"They  don't  intend  to  let  it  become  due,  either,  and  won't 
give  you  a  chance  to  pay  it.  They  said  they  were  going  to 
forfeit  on  you  on  that  technicality,  and  make  you  lose  out 
before  a  payment  was  due.  But  as  I  understand  it  that  con 
tract  provides  that  you  can  pay  it  all  at  any  time,  just  so  there 
is  no  litigation  or  other  legal  matters  in  the  way,"  said  Bill, 
with  an  air  of  satisfaction. 

"Yes,  it  so  provides,"  replied  Winters,  who  saw  a  way  to 
head  them  off. 

"Then  your  only  hope  in  saving  that  property  is  to  get  that 
money  there  and  place  it  to  the  credit  of  the  company  Mon 
day  morning  the  moment  the  bank  opens  up  for  business  and 
before  any  papers  are  served  on  you,"  he  said,  taking  a  seat, 
as  though  he  had  said  all  there  was  to  it. 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 307 

"You  are  right,  Bill,  and  also  another  thing  is  necessary. 
All  the  officers  of  the  company  must  be  away  Monday  morn 
ing  so  they  can't  get  service  upon  them  until  you  pay  the 
money  and  make  a  demand  for  the  deed.  They  don't  know 
you,  you  say?"  asked  the  lawyer. 

"No,  they  don't  know  that  I  am  a  detective  and  connected 
with  the  company.  I  represented  myself  there  as  looking  for 
work,"  he  said. 

"I  will  get  a  certified  check  made  out  to  their  account  and 
you  can  take  it  to  the  bank  there  on  Monday  morning  and 
have  it  deposited  to  their  account.  Simply  present  it  to  the 
cashier  and  say  you  want  to  place  it  to  the  credit  of  their  ac 
count,  as  required  by  the  contract,  and  get  a  receipt  for  it, 
too.  I  will  draw  up  the  receipt,  which  you  can  ask  him  to 
sign.  Then  I'll  give  you  a  written  demand  that  you  may 
present,  asking  for  the  deed,  which  is  there  in  escrow.  As 
soon  as  the  cashier  gives  it  to  you,  and  he  will,  for  he  is  not 
likely  to  be  posted  otherwise  so  early,  you  rush  over  to  the 
courthouse  and  slap  the  deed  upon  record,  and  the  fight  will 
be  all  over,"  directed  the  attorney. 

"That  was  my  plan,  too,  Mr.  Winters,"  replied  Bill. 

"Get  your  men  and  officers  away  from  the  mine  early 
Monday  morning  and  keep  them  away  until  you  are  sure 
that  you  have  it  safe  before  you  let  them  come  back,"  con 
tinued  Winters. 

"You  get  the  certified  check,  Mr.  Winters,  and  I'll  do  the 
rest,"  replied  Bill,  arising  and  putting  on  his  hat. 

"I  think  you  will,  for  you  have  never  disappointed  us 
yet." 

"It's  got  to  be  handled  with  care,  but  I  think  I  can  do  it," 
remarked  Bill  confidently. 

"By  the  way,  how  is  the  mine  showing  up?"  asked 
Winters. 


308 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Couldn't  be  better.  That  is  what's  causing  them  to  want 
it  back  so  badly." 

"Why  do  the  men  let  them  know  what  is  going  on  ?"  asked 
the  lawyer,  ready  to  blame  the  men. 

"Our  men  don't ;  it's  the  laborers  who  tell  things.  I  think 
that  the  bank  has  spies  among  the  laborers  who  are  there  just 
to  keep  them  posted  as  to  what  is  going  on,"  replied  the  de 
tective,  rather  disgustedly. 

"I  see,  but  what  have  you  really  got  in  the  mine  worth 
fighting  about?" 

"There  is  at  least  a  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  ore 
blocked  out  right  now,  and  that  much  more  in  sight.  You 
know  that  is  something  worth  fighting  for,"  said  Bill. 

"Well,  we  can't  take  any  chances  of  losing  that  for  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars.  I  will  get  the  check  ready  for  you  at 
once  and  make  out  the  papers  so  you  can  get  back  on  the  next 
train,"  said  the  lawyer,  getting  busy  at  once  on  it. 

"Have  you  paid  any  dividends  on  the  stock  yet,  Mr. 
Winters?"  asked  Bill. 

"No,  but  we  have  money  enough  in  the  bank  now  to  pay 
back  every  dollar  to  the  stockholders,  and  we  are  going  to 
do  so  in  a  very  short  time  now." 

"That  is  fine.  We'll  now  prove  to  those  grouches  and 
pessimists  back  home  that  this  mine  is  the  real  thing  and  will 
pan  out,"  replied  Bill,  with  pride. 

"How  is  Sprouls?"  asked  Winters. 

"Sprouls  is  a  good  miner,  but  a  great  talker,  and  if  his 
tongue  could  make  things  go  they  would  have  gone  long  ago. 
Our  new  man,  George  Roberts,  who  took  Jones'  place,  under 
stands  his  business,  all  right,  and  the  success  of  the  enterprise 
will  be  largely  due  to  his  good  work." 

Winters  gave  a  hearty  laugh  at  the  thought  of  Sprouls 
and  his  talk. 


PUTTING  UP  THE  BARS 309 

"Yes,  Sprouls  has  good  ideas  about  mining,  but  it  takes 
Roberts  to  carry  them  out.  They  work  well  together." 

In  a  very  short  time  everything  was  in  readiness  and  Bill 
was  on  the  train  rushing  back  to  Nevada  City  with  his  check. 
He  put  the  deal  through  as  they  had  planned  without  a  hitch, 
but  there  was  a  set  of  very  angry  people  when  they  found  that 
the  cashier  had  accepted  the  money  and  given  up  the  deed. 
But  it  was  done  and  could  not  be  undone. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  THE  ATTACK 

Having  satisfied  himself  that  he  was  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  facts  pertaining  to  his  new  enterprise  to  launch  it, 
and  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  it,  Lew  Manning  saddled  his 
pony,  took  his  data,  and  started  to  make  the  rounds  of  the 
mining  camps  to  see  the  gravel  mining  men,  and  to  enlist 
their  co-operation  and  help  in  putting  it  through.  Camp  after 
camp  and  mine  after  mine  was  visited.  When  the  owners 
were  told  of  the  plan  they  were  at  once  in  sympathy  with  him 
and  his  plan.  At  the  prospects  of  a  resumption  of  this  kind 
of  mining  the  price  of  the  gravel  beds,  which  had  for  so  long 
lain  worthless,  began  to  revive  and  advance  by  leaps  and 
bounds. 

The  excitement  was  premature,  for  it  was  a  long  way  yet 
to  a  resumption  of  hydraulic  mining. 

The  principal  object  of  the  canvass  at  this  time  was  not 
only  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  the  mining  men,  but  to  raise 
a  fund  of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  take  it  before  Congress  to 
enlist  sympathy  and  interest  there,  so  that  they  could  get  a 
bill  introduced  and  the  appropriation  made  for  the  great 
flume. 

The  plan  was  welcomed  with  joy  and  greatly  praised  by 
the  miners;  so  much  so  that  the  necessary  money  was  easily 
subscribed  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  lobby.  This  money 
was  all  to  be  paid  in  by  December,  as  Congress  was  to  as 
semble  on  the  first  Monday  in  that  month. 

The  fall  election  was  just  coming  on  and  a  Congress 
man  was  to  be  elected  from  this  district.  The  whole  issue 
and  interest  was  to  elect  a  Congressman  who  would  champion 
the  cause  of  this  pet  enterprise.  It  would  have  been  useless 

310 


for  any  man  to  aspire  to  that  high  office  who  was  not  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  the  project. 

The  Congressional  convention  was  called  and  the  dele 
gates  were  all  instructed  to  sound  the  candidate  fully  upon  the 
subject  and  to  secure  his  full  pledge  to  introduce  the  bill  in 
Congress  and  work  for  its  passage.  No  sooner  did  the  dele 
gates  begin  to  arrive  than  the  name  of  Lew  Manning  was 
upon  every  lip.  "He  is  just  the  man  we  want.  He  is  a 
thinker  and  a  worker  and  will  put  this  proposition  through," 
could  be  heard  on  every  side,  and  here  and  there  were  groups 
discussing  the  subject. 

When  the  convention  was  called  to  order  and  the  commit 
tees  were  appointed  and  were  preparing  their  reports,  Lew 
Manning  was  called  to  the  platform  to  give  a  report  upon  his 
great  plan.  For  almost  an  hour  he  held  their  undivided  at 
tention.  Most  of  them  had  more  or  less  interest  in  some  of 
the  mines  and,  of  course,  they  naturally  were  enthused  and 
interested. 

He  told  of  the  millions  of  yards  of  gravel  in  the  various 
hydraulic  mines  and  how  his  plan  provided  for  placing  this 
gravel  and  debris  in  the  swamp  lands ;  how  much  more  this 
land  would  be  worth  when  filled  in  and  made  useful  for  farms 
instead  of  being  left  as  it  was,  a  breeding  place  for  mosquitoes, 
reptiles  and  disease.  But  best  of  all,  he  told  of  the  many 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  in  gold  that  would  be  the  re 
ward  of  their  labors  and  the  expenditure  of  the  preliminary 
expenses ;  also  of  the  great  flumes  which,  when  once  built, 
would  furnish  enough  water  for  irrigation  to  the  whole  valley 
and  would  turn  it  into  the  most  fertile  and  prosperous  section 
in  the  state,  if  not  in  the  whole  West. 

When  he  closed  his  speech  some  one  started  a  stampede 
to  turn  the  nomination  to  young  Manning.  He  watched  their 
movements  for  a  few  moments,  and  when  he  saw  that  they 
were  determined  to  do  it,  he  sprang  to  the  platform  again 


312 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

and  waving  his  hands  for  silence,  he  was  able,  after  sereral 
attempts,  to  quiet  them. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  convention,"  he  said,  greatly  embar 
rassed,  "I  want  to  thank  you  for  this  honor  that  you  want  to 
confer  upon  me,  but  let  me  caution  you  not  to  do  it.  It  would 
be  worthless  for  you  to  give  this  nomination  to  me,  for  I  am 
under  the  proper  age  and  would  not  be  allowed  to  qualify 
should  you  elect  me.  If  you  want  to  do  me  an  honor,  though, 
I  will  ask  you  to  let  me  nominate  the  man  who  I  know  will 
be  true  and  faithful  to  us  and  is  capable  of  putting  this  plan 
through  if  any  man  can  do  so.  It  will  also  give  me  a  chance 
to  stay  on  the  job  and  run  the  surveys  and  get  things  lined 
up  for  business.  I  can  do  you  more  good  in  that  way  than  if 
I  were  elected  this  time.  In  two  years  more  I  will  be  old 
enough  to  be  eligible,  and  then  I  might  consider  the  honor  if 
you  still  thought  I  was  worthy  and  capable.  I  want  to  place 
before  this  convention  the  name  of  a  very  worthy  and  much 
esteemed  man,  and  a  man  who  can  command  the  respect  of 
others  and  usually  gets  what  he  goes  after.  I  name  the 
Honorable  Jack  Winters  as  our  candidate  for  Congress,  a 
man  who  will  get  us  the  appropriation  for  this  work." 

The  speech  had  its  effect,  and  Mr.  Winters  was  made  the 
nominee  of  the  party  and  the  representative  of  the  interests 
of  the  people,  regardless  of  party.  His  opponent  was  a  cor 
poration  tool,  put  up  to  oppose  the  interests  of  the  common 
people,  and  the  campaign  was  on. 

Lew  Manning  assisted  Mr.  Winters  in  his  campaign  and 
when  the  votes  were  counted,  Jack  Winters  was  the  Congress 
man  elect,  but  a  year  must  elapse  before  he  could  begin  his 
services  at  Washington.  To  gain  time,  and  to  have  senti 
ment  worked  up,  Lew  and  Mr.  Winters  went  to  the  capital 
as  a  committee  to  confer  with  and  make  sufficient  acquaint 
ance  among  the  Congressmen.  They  invited  them  to  visit  the 
gravel  mines  at  the  expense  of  the  miners,  to  investigate  the 
proposition  in  advance  of  the  time  for  action  upon  the  bill. 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK      313 

To  their  surprise,  they  found  the  Eastern  Congressmen 
cold  and  indifferent  to  any  proposition  relating  to  the  West. 
They  worked  hard,  but  accomplished  little.  They  could  not 
even  get  them  to  make  the  trip  West  to  see  the  value  of  their 
enterprise  and  it  looked  as  if  the  project  would  fall  flat,  but 
Lew  was  not  at  all  alarmed  or  disheartened.  He  knew  that 
it  would  take  time  to  work  up  sentiment  on  any  proposition, 
for  he  knew  the  opposition  he  had  met  with  at  home  among 
his  friends.  He  soon  learned  that  some  important  bills  had 
been  before  Congress  for  years,  and  that  the  advocates  were 
still  working  upon  them  with  hopes  of  their  passage  some 
time. 

"I  have  a  plan,  Mr.  Winters,  that  I  think  will  touch  these 
fellows,"  said  Lew  one  day  when  the  other  was  much  dis 
couraged  and  ready  to  give  up. 

"What  is  it,  Lew  ?"  asked  Winters,  for  he  had  come  to  ex 
pect  something  worth  while  when  Lew  said  he  had  a  new  plan. 

"I  think  it  will  be  best  for  you  to  return  to  the  Coast  and 
get  together  a  company  of  the  most  influential  mining  men 
and  organize  a  development  company  for  the  purpose  of  doing 
this  work  according  to  our  plan.  You  can  get  out  some  fine 
literature,  showing  the  real  facts  of  the  situation.  Let  it  give 
the  number  of  yards  of  gravel  to  be  piped  away  and  the 
amount  of  gold  there  is 'in  it;  the  wealth  it  will  bring  to  its 
stockholders,  and  the  cost  of  building  the  flume  and  the  use 
of  the  same  in  conveying  the  debris  to  the  swamp  lands ;  the 
profits  that  will  come  to  us  from  the  filled  lands  and  the  prac 
tical  use  the  flumes  can  be  put  to  for  irrigation  purposes; 
also  the  increased  value  of  the  lands  in  the  Sacramento  valley. 

"Then  call  upon  the  people  for  subscriptions  of  stock  to 
build  the  flumes  with,  and  show  the  great  profits  which  will 
come  to  the  investors  in  the  company.  I  think  we  can  get  a 
lot  of  these  Congressmen  to  invest  in  the  stock  of  the  com 
pany,  and  then  they  will  put  the  bill  through  Congress.  You 


314 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

are  an  attorney  and  know  how  to  do  it.  I  will  stay  here  and 
work  up  the  subscriptions  and  keep  the  thing  alive.  When 
your  turn  of  service  begins  here  in  Congress  it  will  be  in 
shape  for  you  to  accomplish  something.  What  do  you  say?" 

"It  sounds  good  to  me,  even  better  than  my  work  here, 
so  far,"  said  Winters,  anxious  for  some  change  in  their 
methods. 

"You  see,  I  have  the  data  all  compiled.  You  can  take  it 
back  with  you  and  get  the  smoothest  promoter  you  can  find 
out  there  to  write  you  a  prospectus.  Have  him  make  it  as  at 
tractive  as  possible.  Print  it  in  colors  and  on  attractive  paper. 
Remember  this  is  no  'cheap  John'  affair,  but  the  greatest 
proposition  ever  floated  in  this  country,"  pausing  a  moment  to 
think  it  over,  then  continuing:  "I  should  think  that  you 
should  have  at  least  seven  directors  to  manage  the  company 
affairs.  Get  the  best  and  most  influential  men  you  can  find 
and  select  them  from  among  the  bankers,  business  men  and 
mining  men.  They  must  be  men  with  brains,  who  will  look  at 
things  from  a  business  standpoint.  The  authorized  capital 
should  be  one  hundred  million  dollars,  and  the  shares  should 
have  a  par  value  of  one  hundred  dollars.  We  men  will  be  en 
titled  to  a  ten  per  cent  commission  for  promotion  and  sale  of 
stock,  payable  either  in  stock  or  cash,  as  the  stock  is  sold.  This 
commission  can  be  divided,  according  to  the  work  done  by 
each. 

"I  don't  care  for  any  position  in  the  company,  but  I  do 
want  the  position  as  chief  engineer  of  construction,  for  this 
enterprise  is  my  own,  and  it  is  what  I  expect  to  make  my  life 
work.  To  accomplish  this  feat  is  enough  for  one  man  in  his 
short  career  on  this  earth,"  concluded  Lew. 

Winters  listened  with  great  interest  and  when  he  had 
finished  said,  "You  are  the  greatest  wonder  I  ever  saw, 
Lew!" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Lew  in  surprise. 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS   FOR   ATTACK      315 

"Why,  you  just  keep  me  guessing  what  you  will  think  of 
next.  You  seem  never  to  be  at  a  loss  for  a  way  to  work 
things  out,"  said  the  lawyer,  with  admiration.  "You  have 
outlined  this  as  completely  as  a  'Vanderbilt'  could,"  but  Lew 
replied : 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,  but  if  you  have  anything  better  to 
offer  let's  have  it.  I  am  always  ready  to  learn,"  for  he  did 
not  know  just  how  to  take  Winters. 

"I  don't  mean  that  I  have  anything  better,  but  it  is  always 
so  amusing  to  me  to  see  you  think  of  the  right  thing  long  be 
fore  the  rest  of  us  do." 

"Nonsense !  Anyone  could  think  of  what  I  have  just 
planned,"  somewhat  embarrassed. 

"Well,  why  didn't  they,  then?"  laughed  the  lawyer. 

"Anyhow  we  have  a  plan  here  that  we  can  put  through, 
even  if  Congress  doesn't  take  hold  with  us  and  make  the  ap 
propriation." 

"You'll  find  it  a  pretty  big  job  to  sell  a  hundred  million 
dollars'  worth  of  stock,  young  fellow,"  laughed  the  lawyer. 

"I  don't  expect  to  sell  it  all  outright.  I  expect  to  sell  a 
good  bunch  of  it  and  possibly  get  Congress  to  take  half  of  it 
in  one  block,  if  that  can  be  done.  If  not,  I  have  another  plan 
that  I  know  will  work." 

"Well,  I'm  looking  for  most  any  kind  of  a  surprise  now, 
Lew.  What  is  it?"  asked  Winters,  still  smiling. 

Lew  continued:  "We  will  get  all  of  those  mining  men 
and  every  banker  and  business  man  to  subscribe  for  this 
stock,  payable  one-fifth  down  and  one-fifth  per  year  for  five 
years,  or  as  needed  in  the  work.  Then  we  will  issue  gold 
bonds  against  the  enterprise  in  sufficient  amounts  to  complete 
the  flumes  and  pay  off  these  bonds  from  the  ten  per  cent 
royalty  coming  to  the  company  from  the  gravel  mines  using 
the  flumes.  These  bonds  can  be  made  six  per  cent  bonds,  due 
in  twenty  years,  but  redeemable  any  time  the  company  wishes 


316 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

to  call  them  in.  In  a  case  of  this  kind,  all  we  would  have  to 
do  would  be  to  get  Congress  to  grant  us  a  franchise  and  per 
mit  us  to  resume  hydraulic  mining,  provided  we  use  the  flumes 
to  convey  the  debris  to  the  swamp  lands.  In  that  event  we 
could  build  it  without  the  appropriation." 

The  lawyer  had  been  listening  attentively  to  this  plan,  and 
when  Lew  finished  he  clapped  him  on  the  back  and  said  with 
a  smile,  "That's  another  stem  winder  of  a  plan,  and  it's  all 
right,  too ;  but,  Lew,  you  must  go  back  to  Sacramento  and 
help  me  put  this  plan  on  its  feet.  You  understand  these 
things  better  than  I  do,  even  if  I  am  a  lawyer,  and  this  end  of 
the  affair  will  keep.  Let's  both  go  back  and  get  the  company 
organized  and  all  the  details  worked  out  first.  I  am  too  busy 
to  do  it  alone,  for  there  will  be  a  thousand  and  one  things  to 
be  worked  out.  You  are  the  only  one  to  do  it,  for  you  are  an 
adept  in  that  line.  What  do  you  say?"  trying  to  persuade 
Lew  to  see  it  his  way. 

"I  am  at  your  service  if  you  think  that  the  best  way,  Mr. 
Winters.  It  will  not  take  long  to  make  the  trip  back  here 
again  when  it  is  necessary,  but  so  far  as  being  an  adept  in 
this  line,  I  will  tell  you  that  I  have  not  thought  of  anything 
else  for  the  past  three  years  or  more,  and  I  have  threshed  out 
every  detail  in  my  mind,  besides  reading  up  everything  that 
I  could  get  hold  of  that  I  thought  would  be  of  any  use  to  me 
in  this  work." 

"I  see  it  now.  I  wondered  how  you  could  think  of  all 
these  things  so  quickly  and  at  the  right  time,"  answered 
Winters,  understandingly. 

"Early  in  my  schooling,  Mr.  Winters,  my  teachers  taught 
me  to  try-  and  utilize  everything  we  learn,  or  to  learn  what 
we  do  learn  well  enough  so  as  to  utilize  it  in  our  lifework.  1 
had  this  one  proposition  in  mind,  and  everything  that  I  read 
about  in  any  paper  or  magazine  which  had  to  do  with  that 
kind  of  work  I  said  to  myself,  'How  will  that  work  in  my 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK      317 

scheme?'  I  studied  it  until  I  found  a  way  to  use  it,  and  I 
suppose  you  will  find  me  full  of  ideas  all  right." 

The  lawyer  studied  Lew's  well  shaped  business  head  and 
manly  appearance  for  a  while,  and  then  spoke:  "Now  I  can 
see  what  was  the  matter  with  Myrtle.  She  said  you  were  not 
the  same  jolly,  good-natured  fellow  you  used  to  be,  but  so 
studious  and  so  absorbed  in  your  scheme  that  you  were  really 
cold  and  indifferent  to  all  other  things." 

Lew  blushed  with  shame  as  he  heard  this,  but  finally  said, 
"Do  you  know,  Mr.  Winters,  I  have  wondered  sometimes 
if  I  were  not  getting  one-sided.  I  don't  aim  to  be  that  way, 
and  I  know  an  apology  is  due  the  little  girl  for  my  coolness 
and  seeming  indifference.  I  didn't  mean  it  that  way.  I  was 
just  simply  laying  my  plans  and  working  out  the  details  of 
my  future  work." 

"I  know  it,  but  she  didn't  see  it  that  way.  She  thinks  you 
have  lost  interest  in  her.  You  know  how  girls  are.  They 
don't  like  to  be  forgotten." 

"That's  right,  and  here  we  have  been  away  all  this  time 
and  I  have  not  written  her  a  line,  but  she  knows  I  am  not 
turning  my  attention  to  any  other  girl,  anyway." 

It  was  the  first  time  it  had  been  brought  to  his  attention 
and  the  other  thought  it  a  good  time  for  a  little  fatherly  ad 
vice,  so  he  said: 

"Your  education  is  faulty  if  it  has  not  taught  you  that 
there  is  a  time  for  work  and  a  time  for  rest,  recreation  and 
pleasure." 

"I  see,  and  I  guess  I  have  been  too  studious,  but  I  don't 
think  my  work  will  suffer  any  by  it,  if  other  things  do,"  with 
a  laugh. 

"Getting  back  to  our  proposition :  can't  we  line  up  some  of 
these  fellows  before  we  leave  here?"  asked  the  lawyer,  think 
ing  that  enough  had  been  said. 

"I  don't  think  so,  Mr.  Winters.     I  don't  think  it  will  be 


318 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

wise  for  them  to  subscribe  for  the  stock  before  the  appro 
priation  is  voted.  It  might  get  them  in  bad  by  voting  for  a 
scheme  that  they  were  personally  interested  in.  It's  all  right 
to  talk  it  over  with  them  and  create  an  interest  among  the 
Representatives.  We  can  tell  them  what  we  have  and  are 
going  to  do,  and  then  leave  the  stock  subscriptions  open  for 
them  until  the  bill  passes,  when  they  can  make  their  personal 
subscriptions  and  be  within  the  bounds  of  the  law." 

"Right  you  are  again.  I  hadn't  even  thought  of  that," 
replied  the  lawyer.  "We  will  make  our  rounds  among  them 
again,  outline  our  plans  and  tell  them  what  we  want  and  ex 
pect.  Then  we  will  return  West  to  put  our  plans  in  action  the 
way  we  have  in  mind." 

The  next  few  days  found  Winters  and  Lew  busy  describ 
ing  their  plans  to  the  Congressmen,  and  by  the  time  they  were 
ready  to  start  home  they  had  gotten  quite  a  large  number 
pledged  to  support  a  bill  along  those  lines. 

Then  the  two  men  hurried  out  West  again  to  get  their 
company  formed  and  properly  incorporated  and  to  get  the 
necessary  money  subscribed  to  launch  the  work.  They  got 
their  printed  prospectus  out  and  mailed  it  to  the  Congress 
men  and  all  the  mining  men  and  brokers  of  their  acquaint 
ance.  The  subscriptions  began  to  roll  in  from  everywhere. 
Every  mining  man  in  the  district  wanted  in  on  it  for  every 
dollar  they  could  possibly  raise.  It  was  just  what  they 
wanted,  for  it  would  not  only  afford  them  a  permanent  in 
come  from  the  profits  of  the  great  company,  but  would  give 
them  the  right  to  do  unlimited  hydraulic  mining.  They  could 
ask  nothing  better. 

The  country  was  canvassed  for  the  right  kind  of  men  for 
directors.  Nine  men  were  found  that  every  one  seemed  to  think 
ought  to  be  on  the  board.  Among  them  were  George  Garner, 
R.  H.  Kramer,  the  bankers ;  Jack  Winters,  the  lawyer ;  Henry 
Manning,  the  rancher;  the  ex-Governor,  E.  R.  Samuels,  a 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK      319 

politician;  Lew  Manning,  the  engineer,  and  three  men  from 
the  mining  camps. 

These  were  all  men  of  means,  capable  of  making  liberal 
subscriptions  for  the  stock  to  head  the  list,  which  they  did  as 
an  inducement  for  others  to  follow  their  example. 

The  newspapers  had  great  headlines  at  the  top,  telling  of 
the  great  enterprise  that  was  being  launched;  of  the  strong 
backing  it  had  and  the  way  subscriptions  were  coming;  of  the 
possibilities  of  large  profits  to  those  fortunate  enough  to  get 
in  upon  the  enterprise;  what  it  would  mean  to  the  mining 
world,  and  what  a  vast  improvement  it  would  be  to  do  away 
with  the  miserable  swamp  lands  and  have  in  their  place  valu 
able  agricultural  lands ;  what  irrigation  would  do  for  the  val 
ley,  and  the  untold  wealth  it  would  bring  to  the  state  in  years 
to  come,  with  many  other  great  advantages  all  pointed  out. 

These  newspaper  articles  were  copied  all  over  the  country 
and  the  enterprise  was  represented  to  the  investors  as 
worthy  and  reliable.  Cement  manufacturers  everywhere  be 
gan  to  investigate  the  possibility  of  launching  their  industry 
in  the  West  and  grading  contractors  began  to  congregate  on 
the  coast  with  the  expectation  of  taking  contracts  in  the  con 
struction  of  the  great  ditches.  All  those  who  were  expecting 
to  bid  upon  any  part  of  this  work  were  subscribing  for  the 
stock  of  the  company,  thinking  it  would  give  them  a  better 
chance  for  the  jobs.  In  fact,  every  man  who  even  expected 
to  get  work  upon  the  construction  had  subscribed  for  stock 
without  even  solicitation  or  invitation,  and  thus  the  subscrip 
tions  for  stock  were  rapidly  assuming  great  activity.  It  soon 
became  evident  to  Lew  that  his  boyhood  dreams  were  coming 
true. 

The  directors  were  called  together  for  consultation  and 
action  upon  some  important  things  which  now  seemed  neces 
sary  to  be  considered.  They  were  not  planning  to  act  in  a 
selfish  way,  but  to  safeguard  the  company  and  make  all  the 


320 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

profits  possible  for  the  stockholders.  The  question  of  buying 
up  some  of  these  swamp  lands  for  the  company,  and  also  of 
taking  options  on  mining  claims  were  considered.  It  was  a 
little  late  to  be  thinking  about  this  part  of  the  enterprise  now, 
as  values  in  these  properties  were  greatly  inflated,  being 
doubled,  tripled  and  quadrupled  in  many  cases. 

"But  not  yet  too  high  for  consideration,"  said  Lew,  who 
had  heard  the  discussion.  "By  the  proper  manipulation  the 
company  could  govern  these  prices  by  refusing  to  convey  the 
water  to  these  lands.  This  would  keep  down  the  price  of 
swamp  lands,  while  by  refusing  to  connect  with  certain  mining 
claims  or  districts,  would  govern  the  prices  of  the  mining 
properties.  To  be  fair  about  it,  though,  and  to  show  no  par 
tiality,  I  suggest  that  we  call  a  meeting  of  all  mining  men  in 
terested  and  who  expect  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity 
for  working  their  mines,  and  formulate  a  plan  or  sign  an 
agreement  governing  their  action  in  using  the  flumes  for  their 
mining.  We  should  also  call  a  meeting  at  the  same  time  of 
the  land  owners  who  expect  to  profit  by  the  reclamation  of  the 
swamp  lands. 

"A  great  enterprise  like  this  should  be  carried  on  with 
system  and  business  rules  or  failure  and  strife  will  be  the 
ultimate  result.  You  all  know  that  the  big  fellows  will  profit 
to  the  loss  and  detriment  of  the  smaller  ones.  If  I  am  going 
to  manage  this  business  I  am  determined  that  all  shall  have  a 
fair  chance.  Of  course,  they  can't  all  be  first  and  some  of 
them  will  find  fault  with  that.  Some  mines  will  have  to  wait 
and  the  same  is  true  of  filling  in  the  swamp  lands,  but  if  a 
set  of  rules  is  adopted  governing  the  work  I  shall  make  it 
my  business  to  see  that  they  are  carried  out  as  nearly  as  it  is 
in  my  power  to  do  so.  They  won't  be  able  to  say  then  that 
Lew  Manning  showed  any  partiality  in  his  management,"  he 
finished  in  a  businesslike  way  which  held  the  attention  of 
every  director. 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK     321 

"That's  the  kind  of  a  manager  we  want,"  said  ex-Gov 
ernor  Samuels,  the  newly  elected  President  of  the  California 
Reclamation  &  Mining  Company.  "This  will  be  one  of  the 
biggest  and  richest  enterprises  in  the  world  if  it  is  properly 
handled.  Our  managing  engineer,  who  is  the  originator  of  the 
plans  and  who  has  worked  out  the  details  so  far,  has  evidently 
had  the  foresight  to  see  the  impending  dangers  ahead  and  has 
planned  a  way  to  ward  them  off.  I  think  it  will  be  well  to 
act  upon  his  suggestion  in  this  matter  and  to  call  this  con 
vention  of  mining  men  and  the  men  who  own  the  swamp 
lands  and  have  them  list  their  properties  with  us.  We  will 
then  know  just  what  mines  we  can  expect  to  do  business  with 
and  we  will  make  a  contract  with  them  to  handle  their  silt 
and  debris  and  get  them  all  signed  up.  In  that  way  we  will 
know  just  what  amount  of  business  we  can  depend  on,  and 
we  can  also  get  these  landholders  listed,  have  them  sign  a  con 
tract  and  agree  upon  a  price  for  filling  in  their  lands." 

"That  is  right,  Governor,"  said  Lew,  who  had  been  listen 
ing  carefully.  "But  there  is  a  difficulty  hanging  right  there 
which  has  worried  me  not  a  little." 

"Will  you  mention  it?  Perhaps  we  can  find  a  way  to 
solve  the  problem." 

"Certainly,  Governor.  It's  been  the  hardest  proposition  of 
all  for  me,  and  I  hope  some  of  you  can  assist  me  in  getting  an 
answer  to  it." 

"You  have  my  curiosity  aroused,  Mr.  Manning.  Please 
explain,"  said  the  ex-Governor.  "It  must  be  difficult,  in 
deed,  if  it  is  something  you  can't  solve." 

"It's  this  way.  If  a  mine  owner  refuses  to  co-operate  with 
us  we  can  just  pass  him  by  and  permit  another  to  take  his 
turn,  but  what  will  we  do  if  a  man  owns  a  strip  of  land  where 
we  have  contracts  for  filling  and  he  refuses  to  sign  up  or  to 
pay  us  for  filling  in  his  land,  for  we  couldn't  fill  the  land 
under  contract  without  filling  his.  What  are  we  going  to  do 

21 


322 WINNING  A  FORTUNE ^^ 

about  it?  Suppose  he  even  objects  to  having  the  debris  come 
upon  his  land?  If  we  filled  all  around  him  that  would  throw 
more  water  on  his  land,  and  then  he  would  probably  sue  us 
for  damages." 

The  Governor  began  to  scratch  his  head,  and  the  directors 
began  to  look  at  each  other.  It  was  a  new  difficulty,  and  the 
most  serious  one  in  the  whole  undertaking. 

Lew  continued :  "When  I  originated  this  plan,  gentlemen, 
I  supposed  the  swamp  lands  were  Government  lands.  Later 
I  found  that  they  had  been  granted  to  the  state  in  1850,  and 
that  the  state  had  disposed  of  them  since.  Now  they  are  in 
the  hands  of  corporations  and  individuals,  yet  this  did  not 
change  my  plan  any,  for  I  knew  the  lands  were  there  just  the 
same  and  needed  filling  in,  but  this  difficulty  just  recently 
came  into  my  mind." 

"An  act  of  the  State  Legislature  could  easily  remedy  this 
difficulty,  Lew,"  said  the  Governor. 

"On  what  basis,  Governor?"  asked  Lew,  hopefully. 

"You  stated  that  these  swamp  lands  are  breeders  of  pesti 
lent  insects,  reptiles  and  disease.  In  other  words,  they  are  a 
nuisance  and  injurious  to  public  health.  They  should  be  con 
demned  as  such  and  brought  under  the  reclamation  act,  but 
it  strikes  me  that  we  will  have  to  have  an  act  of  the  State 
Legislature,  anyhow,  to  legalize  the  proposition. 

"I  suggest  that  we  have  our  attorney  draft  this  bill  and 
present  it  to  the  Legislature  at  once.  We  must  get  it  enacted 
into  a  law  before  any  of  the  land  owners  see  this  feature  of 
it.  We  should  have  a  clause  embodied  in  the  bill  making  it 
compulsory  to  have  adjoining  lands  filled;  that  if  the  owner 
objects  or  refuses  to  co-operate,  his  land  shall  be  condemned 
and  filled,  and  the  costs  charged  up  to  the  land.  The  state 
can  pay  the  charges  and  hold  the  land  as  state  land;  or  if  the 
company  perfers,  it  may  fill  the  lands  and  hold  them  for  the 
bill.  If  it  is  not  paid  for  in  the  length  of  time  provided  for 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS   FOR  ATTACK      323 

in  this  bill,  the  title  of  the  land  shall  be  perfected  in  the  de 
velopment  company. 

"Now  that  the  question  has  come  up,  and  no  one  knows 
about  it  but  just  we  directors,  let's  each  keep  it  under  his  hat. 
We'll  get  busy  on  our  bill  and  put  it  through  before  the  others 
get  onto  it  and  defeat  our  plans,"  concluded  the  ex-Governor. 

"The  Governor  has  been  there  before,  and  he  knows  how 
to  handle  it,"  said  Lew,  satisfied  with  the  solution  of  his  most 
vexing  problem,  "but,  gentlemen,  while  the  plan  is  all  right 
if  we  can  get  it  put  through,  yet  we  must  remember  that 
'there  is  many  a  slip  'twixt  cup  and  lip.'  Some  of  these  land 
fellows  may  be  just  as  sharp  as  we  are  and  defeat  us  in  this 
plan.  I  suggest  that  we  do  not  call  the  land  owners'  meeting 
just  now,  for  this  point  may  come  up.  Let's  get  our  bill 
framed  and  appoint  ex-Governor  Samuels  and  Congressman 
Winters  as  a  committee  to  get  it  through  the  Legislature,  for 
we  must  get  to  work  upon  it  at  once." 

"If  that  is  the  wish  of  the  board,  I  will  so  order,"  said 
the  president,  which  was  done. 

"Let  no  one  discuss  it  with  anyone  else,"  said  Lew.  "If  it 
comes  up,  just  say,  'If  anyone  objects,  there  is  plenty  of  other 
land,  and  we  can't  fill  it  all  anyway,'  and  pass  it  off  that  way 
until  we  get  our  bill  through.  Then  we  will  call  a  meeting  of 
the  land  owners,  outline  our  plans  to  them,  sign  them  up,  and 
fix  up  the  price  per  acre.  Then  we  will  begin  at  the  nearest 
point  and  fill  the  lands  as  we  go  along,  and  no  one  can  inter 
fere  with  our  arrangements.  But  now  is  the  time  to  get  those 
mining  men  in  line,  while  they  are  all  anxious  and  willing.  I 
suggest  that  we  charge  them  ten  per  cent  royalty  on  the  gross 
savings  from  the  gravel  mines  for  handling  their  debris.  We 
can't  afford  to  handle  it  for  less.  Some  would  be  able  and 
willing  to  pay  more  for  first  operation,  but  we  can't  do  that. 
We  must  use  system  in  our  management  or  we  will  meet  end 
less  trouble." 


324  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"There  is  one  other  point  that  we  ought  to  settle  now," 
continued  Lew,  and  they  all  looked  at  him  in  astonishment, 
for  they  thought  they  had  provided  for  everything,  but  it 
seemed  that  there  was  nothing  escaped  Lew;  "and  that  is 
this.  There  will  be  a  great  scramble  for  water  rights  in  the 
hills  above  the  mines,  for  piping  off  the  gravel,  and  it  is 
destined  to  make  trouble,  as  some  of  the  men  owning  mines 
will  not  be  able  to  get  water  and  we  will  have  to  pass  them  by. 

"My  plan  is  this.  When  we  sign  a  contract  with  a  man 
we  should  provide  that  when  his  gravel  has  been  piped  away 
and  we  have  finished  his  job,  that  the  water  right  held  by  him 
shall  belong  to  the  development  company.  We  can  then  divert 
the  water  to  the  use  of  the  men  who  have  mines  but  no  water, 
and  that  will  be  a  source  of  profit  to  the  company  also,  for 
we  can  charge  a  small  fee  for  the  water  and  have  water  of 
our  own  for  the  mines  we  may  buy  outright." 

They  all  laughed  heartily,  and  then  the  Governor  asked: 

"Would  it  be  right  to  take  their  water  rights  away  like 
that,  Lew?" 

"There  is  nothing  wrong  about  it,  Governor,"  replied 
Lew.  "The  mine  is  through  with  it,  and  we  have  shown  them  a 
favor  by  assisting  them.  We  must  keep  them  from  squeezing 
the  little  fellow,  and  this  is  the  only  plan  I  can  think  of 
whereby  we  can  get  all  the  mines  to  working,  and  while  we  are 
out  to  complete  the  job  and  make  all  the  money  we  can  out 
of  it,  we  want  to  do  it  in  an  honest  and  upright  way.  This 
plan  is  honest,  and  it's  business." 

"I  guess  you  are  right  about  it,  for  some  of  those  fel 
lows  would  be  heartless  and  try  to  force  the  small  fellows  to 
sell  to  them  at  their  prices." 

"That's  right,  Governor.  Then  these  water  rights  will 
be  invaluable  to  us  for  our  irrigation  project  after  the  mining 
has  all  been  finished.  I  am  looking  ahead  here  for  a  future 
business  and  now  is  our  chance  to  lay  our  plans." 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK  325 

"That  is  right,  Lew,"  said  the  Governor,  now  becoming 
enthused,  "and  I  presume  that  even  if  we  do  all  we  can  to 
safeguard  everything,  there  will  still  be  something  that  we 
have  overlooked." 

These  things  having  all  been  threshed  out  and  agreed 
upon,  it  was  moved  and  carried  that  the  convention  of  mining 
men  be  called  for  the  purpose  of  signing  contracts  for  the 
working  of  the  mines  upon  the  above  plans. 

"I  wish  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  board,"  said  Jack 
Winters,  the  attorney  for  the  newly  incorporated  California 
Development  and  Mining  Co.,  "that  I  have  just  received  a 
ruling  from  the  U.  S.  District  Attorney  that  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  us  to  get  an  act  of  Congress  to  resume  hydraulic 
mining,  for  the  Camminetti  Act  passed  Congress  last  March, 
and  that  law  provides  that  hydraulic  mining  will  be  permitted 
where  the  debris  is  properly  impounded  so  that  it  will  not 
fill  up  the  streams  of  the  valley.  It  does  not  say  where  the 
debris  shall  be  impounded,  and  we  may  use  our  pleasure  about 
that.  If  we  find  it  to  advantage  to  impound  it  in  the  swamps, 
that  will  be  our  business,  just  so  we  build  suitable  dikes  to 
keep  it  out  of  the  rivers." 

"That  is  fine,  gentlemen,"  exclaimed  Lew,  jumping  to  his 
feet  with  joy. 

"That  is  true,"  continued  Winters,  "but  don't  think  it  is 
all  settled  yet.  We  will  have  plenty  of  fight  on  about  it  yet 
when  we  get  to  operating.  There's  bound  to  be  breaks  and 
accidents,  and  at  times  the  waters  may  get  away  from  us. 
Complaint  will  go  up  and  injunctions  will  be  filed  against  our 
operations,  etc.,  so  I  think  we  had  better  not  depend  upon 
that  entirely.  We  ought  to  have  an  act  of  Congress  to  pro 
tect  our  interests  and  make  them  legal.  After  we  have  ex 
pended  our  money  and  built  the  flumes,  we  can't  afford  to  have 
our  plans  upset.  By  your  permission,  I  will  draw  and  father 
a  bill  to  legalize  our  reclamation  and  mining  project,  and  will 


326 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

do  my  best  to  put  it  through  Congress  before  any  objections 
are  filed." 

It  was  so  ordered,  and  then  the  attorney  continued: 
"Now,  gentlemen,  we  have  a  big  corporation  here,  with  an 
authorized  capital  of  a  hundred  million,  and  we  are  selling 
the  stock  and  taking  the  money  for  it,  while  the  corporation 
owns  nothing  as  yet.  To  fortify  ourselves  against  any  com 
plications  that  may  arise,  I  suggest  that  the  corporation  buy 
of  Lew  Manning  all  his  rights,  title  and  interest  in  and  to 
the  mining  and  reclamation  project  that  he  has  worked  out, 
and  that  he  convey  it  by  a  bill  of  sale  to  the  corporation  for 
the  consideration  of  ten  dollars  and  ten  per  cent  of  the  author 
ized  capital  of  the  corporation.  The  rest  of  the  stock  shall  be 
placed  in  the  treasury  of  the  company,  to  be  sold  at  par  for 
the  building  of  the  flumes  and  for  putting  the  plan  into  oper 
ation  as  outlined. 

"From  this  ten  per  cent  Mr.  Manning  will  pay  for  the  pro 
motion  and  take  care  of  the  rest  of  us.  In  other  words,  he 
will  retain  five  per  cent  of  the  stock  for  his  own,  and  the 
other  five  per  cent  shall  be  divided  among  the  rest  of  us  in 
accordance  with  the  work  we  do  and  the  part  we  play  in  put 
ting  the  proposition  upon  its  feet  as  per  arrangement.  This 
latter  does  not  concern  the  company  and  is  not  necessary  to 
be  stated  in  its  records.  To  that  end  I  offer  the  following 
resolutions : 

WHEREAS,  Lew  Manning  has  originated  and  worked 
out  a  plan  for  the  resumption  of  hydraulic  mining,  and  in  a 
way  which  will  not  conflict  with  the  debris  laws  of  the 
country;  and, 

"WHEREAS,  he  has  plans  drawn  for  the  building  of 
artificial  channels  to  convey  the  debris  to  certain  swamp  lands 
in  the  Sacramento  valley;  and, 

"WHEREAS,  his  plans  for  the  reclamation  of  said  swamp 
lands,  and  which  plans  belong  exclusively  to  him,  he  offers 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK      327 

to  sell  and  convey  said  plans  and  all  his  right  thereto  to  the 
California  Development  and  Mining  Company  for  the  sum  of 
ten  dollars  and  ten  per  cent  of  the  entire  capital  stock  of  that 
corporation;  and, 

"WHEREAS,  the  plan  and  scheme  are  indispensable  to  the 
corporation  for  its  business  and  existence;  therefore, 

"BE  IT  RESOLVED,  That  the  corporation  buy  said  plan 
for  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  and  ten  per  cent  of  the  en 
tire  authorized  stock  of  the  corporation,  and  that  the  cor 
poration  pay  Lew  Manning  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  and  issue 
to  him  or  to  his  order  ten  per  cent  of  the  capital  stock  of  the 
corporation,  or  one  hundred  thousand  shares,  with  a  par  value 
of  one  hundred  dollars  per  share,  and  that  in  turn  he  give  a 
complete  bill  of  sale  to  the  corporation  for  all  his  right,  title 
and  interest  in  and  to  said  mining  and  reclamation  scheme." 

When  Winters  had  finished  reading,  a  motion  was  made 
and  seconded  to  adopt  the  resolution. 

"Let  me  state  one  point  upon  which  I  must  insist,  gentle 
men,"  said  Lew,  earnestly,  realizing  that  he  was  about  to  part 
with  his  pet  scheme,  which  he  wished  to  see  truly  safeguarded 
in  every  respect.  "That  is  this :  That  every  share  of  this  ten 
per  cent  of  the  corporation  stock  so  conveyed  to  me  and  by 
me  to  be  divided  up  amongst  us,  shall  be  held  in  pool  and 
not  allowed  to  be  sold  until  the  treasury  stock  is  all  sold,  or 
until  the  plan  is  financed,  or  until  such  time  as  it  will  not 
hurt  the  sale  of  the  company  stock  in  financing  the  company 
undertaking,  and  I,  as  managing  engineer,  reserve  the  right 
to  say  when  that  shall  be.  My  stock  shall  all  remain  with 
yours  until  then.  In  that  way  we  will  safeguard  the  inter 
ests  of  the  company  and  we  will  all  be  on  the  same  footing. 
Do  you  agree  to  it?" 

There  was  considerable  objection  made  to  this  plan  by 
some  of  the  smaller  stockholders,  for  they  had  hoped  to  sell 
their  stock  out  at  once  and  make  a  killing  from  that  source 


328 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

while  the  stock  was  in  great  demand.  Governor  Samuels, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  the  corporation ;  Jack  Winters,  who 
was  the  attorney,  and  Henry  Manning,  the  Vice-President ; 
R.  H.  Kramer,  Secretary,  and  George  Garner,  the  Treasurer, 
being  all  men  of  standing,  could  not  afford  to  be  connected 
with  anything  that  should  prove  to  be  a  failure  and  bring  a 
reproach  upon  their  names.  As  they  were  in  hearty  sympathy 
with  the  plan,  they  compelled  the  rest  to  agree  to  it,  so  the 
resolution  was  adopted  with  the  above  understanding. 

Many  mining  companies  and  other  corporations  make  it 
a  business  to  incorporate  and  get  the  promotion  stock,  which 
they  sell,  and  make  great  profits  from  that  source.  Then  they 
let  the  company  fail,  and  those  buying  the  stocks  lose  their 
investment.  All  the  money  paid  for  promotion  stock  goes 
into  the  pockets  of  the  promoters,  and  never  to  develop  a  mine 
or  to  put  a  business  upon  its  feet. 

Lew,  knowing  this,  was  determined  that  his  scheme 
should  not  suffer  and  fail  in  this  way.  His  plan  of  putting 
the  stock  in  pool  until  the  company  was  financed  was  the 
safeguard  that  saved  his  proposition.  People,  in  buying 
stock  of  any  corporation,  should  know  whether  they  are  get 
ting  the  treasury  stock  or  promotion  stock.  Some  people  say 
"Stock  is  stock  and  I'm  going  to  get  it  where  I  can  buy 
it  the  cheapest."  What  good  does  it  do  them?  The  com 
pany  is  not  financed  until  their  treasury  stock  is  sold,  and 
when  they  sell  promotion  stock  first  the  company  will  fail 
and  their  cheap  stock  is  worthless.  If  the  promoters  had 
the  good  of  the  company  at  heart,  and  they  knew  that  their 
proposition  was  a  good  one,  they  would  not  offer  to  sell  their 
personal  stock,  but  keep  it  for  the  profits  it  would  bring. 
It  is  a  bad  sign  when  the  promoters  start  to  selling  their  per 
sonal  stock. 

"One  thing  more,  gentlemen,  before  we  adjourn  this  meet 
ing,"  said  Winters.  "Our  plan  has  gotten  into  the  papers 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK   329 

and  is  being  copied  all  over  the  East.  Long  articles  about 
it  appear  under  flaming  headlines  everywhere.  Mining  men 
and  brokers  from  all  over  the  East  are  writing  to  Lew  and 
I  for  chances  to  buy  gravel  mines,  and  the  brokers  want 
to  sell  the  stock  of  the  company.  This  free  advertising  is 
creating  a  big  demand  for  the  stock,  and  the  brokers  all 
see  a  chance  to  do  a  good  business.  I  am  wondering  what 
answer  I  will  give  them  and  what  we  are  willing  to  do  in 
the  way  of  commission  for  the  stock  sales.  You  understand, 
of  course,  that  all  the  stock  we  sell  from  this  office  will  be 
done  free  of  any  commission,  as  we  have  agreed  to  take  our 
pay  in  promotion  stock,  but  the  company  will  have  to  allow 
these  Eastern  brokers  a  commission  for  selling  it  or  they 
will  knock  the  company  and  keep  us  from  selling  our  stock. 
The  sale  of  the  stock  is  what  we  are  now  depending  upon, 
and  we  must  let  nothing  stand  in  the  way  of  selling  it. 

"Now  I  have  a  plan  to  offer  that  I  think  will  finish  the 
financing  of  this  proposition  very  quickly." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Winters,  let  us  hear  what  it  is/'  said 
the  president. 

"This  newspaper  advertising  that  we  have  been  getting 
free  of  charge  should  be  followed  up  with  some  paid  ad 
vertising.  We  could  say  then  just  what  we  want  said,  and 
reap  the  harvest  that  is  now  ready  for  us.  I  propose  that  we 
insert  a  good-sized  advertisement  in  all  the  papers  of  the 
Associated  Press  every  day  for  four  or  five  days,  telling  just 
what  we  have,  what  we  expect  to  do  and  the  profits  we  ex 
pect  to  make  out  of  it.  Say  that  the  stock  is  going  very 
fast  and  that  those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  get  in  on 
it  will  find  it  not  only  a  good  investment,  but  a  source  of 
good  income  for  years  to  come.  That  orders  will  be  received 
at  this  office  for  stock  by  mail  or  wire,  and  also  that  brokers 
are  authorized  to  receive  subscriptions  at  the  usual  brokerage 
fee,  but  at  the  risk  of  the  purchaser  when  not  sent  direct  to 
this  office." 


330 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"What  would  such  an  advertisement  cost,  Mr.  Winters?" 
asked  Samuels. 

"I  am  not  certain,  Governor,  but  I  think  it  would  run 
anywhere  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars,  but  what  of  that 
if  it  gets  us  the  business?" 

"Will  it  get  us  the  business?"  he  asked,  for  he  did  not 
know  much  about  advertising. 

"Certainly.  Orders  are  coming  in  now  at  the  rate  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  a  day,  and  such  an  advertisement  ought  to 
sell  out  every  share  we  have  in  two  months'  time.  We  can't 
hope  for  quite  such  a  good  thing  as  that,  maybe,  but  we'll 
do  a  land  office  business,  and  the  brokers  will  follow  us 
up  until  it  is  all  sold  out.  Care  must  be  used  in  our  adver 
tising  though  to  make  it  a  success." 

Upon  motion,  duly  carried,  the  advertising  and  stock  sales 
as  outlined  by  Jack  Winters  were  authorized  to  be  put  through 
at  once. 

"But  what  about  these  mining  men  who  are  writing  for 
gravel  mines?"  asked  Winters  with  concern. 

"We  have  nothing  to  sell  and  can  do  nothing  for  them," 
answered  Samuels,  who  did  not  understand  the  exact  situa 
tion  yet. 

"Yes,  but  Governor,  why  can't  we  have  something  to  sell 
them.  It  is  possible  and  I  think  we  ought  to  improve  the 
opportunity,"  spoke  up  Lew,  who  was  well  posted  along  this 
line.  "It  is  ours  and  we  ought  to  make  all  out  of  this  proposi 
tion  that  we  can." 

"In  what  way,  Mr.  Manning,  do  you  think  we  could  han 
dle  that  phase  of  it?"  asked  the  Governor,  for  he  wanted  to 
understand  it  all. 

"That  is  easy.  There  are  a  lot  of  these  fellows  who  have 
gravel  mines  but  have  no  money  to  work  them  with.  They 
are  willing  to  sell  them  cheap,  and  I  think  we  ought  to  take 
options  on  them  and  sell  them  to  these  Eastern  parties  at 


PREPARING  THE  FORTS  FOR  ATTACK  331 

the  best  possible  figures.  We  could  make  enough  out  of  this 
line  alone  to  build  the  flumes.  When  we  sign  up  the  owners 
of  the  mines  to  use  our  flumes  in  piping  off  the  gravel,  I  am 
in  favor  of  putting  in  a  clause  giving  the  company  the  first 
refusal  of  the  property  in  case  they  want  to  sell  it,  and  as 
far  as  possible  have  the  price  fixed  and  placed  in  the  con 
tract  at  the  time  they  sign  up.  Then  if  we  found  parties 
who  wanted  to  take  the  gravel  mines  at  the  advanced  price 
we  saw  fit  to  add  on,  we  could  supply  them  with  the  prop 
erties  we  have." 

"You  can  make  the  contract,  Mr.  Manning.  I  am  willing 
to  leave  that  to  your  judgment  if  the  rest  are,"  said  the 
Governor.  "It  is  a  chance  for  the  stockholders  and  there  is 
nothing  wrong  about  it.  I  call  it  good  business,"  smiling 
at  Lew  as  he  said  it. 

"Now,"  continued  Samuels,  "that  point  is  settled  and  we 
will  get  down  to  our  various  lines  of  business.  We'll  call 
the  miners'  convention  and  Lew  Manning  will  look  after  the 
contracts  with  them.  Mr.  Winters  will  get  out  his  adver 
tising  and  sell  the  stock,  along  with  the  help  of  the  rest  of 
us.  I  will  draw  up  the  swamp-lands  bill  for  the  legislature 
and  champion  it  in  the  interests  of  the  company.  Now  I 
suppose  we  are  ready  to  adjourn." 

"Not  yet,  Governor," 'called  out  Lew.  "Two  more  things 
must  be  settled  at  this  meeting.  They  are  important  and 
we  must  not  lose  the  time." 

"Make  them  known,  young  man.  I  see  you  never  leave 
a  stone  unturned,"  smiled  the  Governor. 

"I  don't  mean  to,  Governor,  and  I  would  consider  it  a 
serious  blunder  to  leave  these  unturned.  I  refer  to  the  com 
pany  authorizing  the  survey  to  be  run  for  the  first  flume 
we  are  to  build.  There  will  be  several  of  these  flumes  to  be 
built,  and  we  should  decide  on  the  one  which  will  be  the 
quickest  and  easiest  built,  and  have  something  coming  in 


332 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

from  that  source.  Then  there  is  the  cement  proposition. 
It  will  take  some  time  to  get  our  machinery  here  for  the 
construction  of  our  plant,  and  as  that  is  a  very  necessary 
item  we  should  lose  no  time  on  that  score.  As  these  things 
are  to  be  built  under  the  direction  of  the  engineer,  I  wish 
the  board  to  authorize  me  to  proceed  with  the  work,  so  as 
to  have  something  definite  to  report  at  our  next  meeting." 
To  this  the  president  replied,  "It  is  understood,  Mr.  Man 
ning,  that  you  are  to  have  full  charge  of  these  things.  When 
you  have  worked  out  the  plans  submit  them  for  approval 
and  the  authorizing  of  the  same,  with  the  necessary  money. 
If  there  are  no  objections  I  shall  so  order  it." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

LOVE  I  s  No  RESPECTOR  OF  PERSONS 

All  this  work  of  presenting  the  great  mining  proposition 
to  Congress,  returning  to  California  and  getting  the  com 
pany  organized  and  the  various  lines  of  work  laid  out,  had 
taken  many  months  and  the  busiest  man  of  them  all  was  Lew 
Manning.  In  fact,  it  was  his  scheme  and  he  was  to  profit 
the  most  by  it.  If  he  was  not  enthused  he  could  not  expect 
to  enthuse  others.  He  knew  that  most  of  the  work  would 
fall  upon  him  until  it  was  a  success,  and  then  they  would 
all  want  to  have  the  biggest  finger  in  the  pie,  so  they  might 
profit  the  more  by  it.  He  knew  that  if  it  was  to  be  a  suc 
cess  it  was  up  to  him  to  make  it  so.  However,  he  had  a 
stanch  friend  in  Jack  Winters.  Jack  never  failed  him.  He 
knew  that  Lew  would  make  a  fortune  of  no  small  propor 
tions  out  of  it,  but  he  knew  that  he  would  make  a  million 
out  of  it  himself.  Of  course,  they  could  all  well  afford  to 
drop  everything  else  and  give  it  their  entire  attention.  The 
Governor,  for  his  influence  and  work  as  president  of  the 
concern,  would  make  a  million,  and  the  other  six  directors 
would  net  half  a  million  apiece  from  the  promotion  stock. 

It  all  depended  upon  the  proposition  winning  out,  though. 
If  it  failed,  they  would  all  lose,  and  if  it  succeeded  they  were 
all  sure  to  make  fortunes.  No  one  could  afford  to  lay  down 
on  it  or  oppose  those  who  were  pushing  it  along.  The  Gov 
ernor,  Mr.  Winters  and  Lew  were  made  the  executive  com 
mittee,  with  full  power  to  act  in  all  things  except  the  appro 
priations  that  called  for  the  company  funds,  which  could  only 
be  appropriated  by  a  vote  of  the  board  of  directors. 

During  all  these  months  Lew  had  had  no  time  to  think 
much  of  anything  else  but  his  work.  He  knew  that  there 

333 


334 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

was  a  little  girl  down  in  Berkeley  who  was  thinking  of  him, 
and  whom  he  expected  to  win  as  his  next  and  best  fortune, 
but  he  was  too  busy  winning  the  first  just  now  to  think  much 
about  her.  He  knew  that  he  was  true  to  her  and  never 
doubted  but  that  she  was  also  true  to  hinu,  but  womenfolk 
sometimes  look  at  things  differently  than  men  do.  Their 
feelings  are  hurt  if  they  are  neglected,  their  pride  is  wounded 
if  they  are  obliged  to  occupy  a  second  place  in  the  affections 
of  a  man,  even  if  it  is  business  that  occupies  the  first  place. 
It  is  the  little  attentions  and  acts  of  thoughtfulness  that  make 
life  worth  while  to  a  woman.  She  does  not  consider  that  any 
business  proposition  should  step  in  ahead  and  take  the  time 
and  attention  that  belong  to  her. 

There  was  never  a  question  but  that  Lew  loved  her  and 
that  she  in  turn  felt  the  same  for  him.  But  had  he  let  that 
love  die?  Must  she  give  him  up  as  a  cold  business  man, 
with  no  capacity  for  love  or  sympathy?  She  asked  those 
questions  over  and  over  again  in  her  mind.  Again,  she 
would  think,  "Will  he  ever  be  the  same  Lew  to  me  again?" 
Then  she  would  wonder  if  it  wasn't  her  own  fault  for  putting 
him  off  and  telling  him  "not  now"  for  the  sake  of  his  edu 
cation,  when  he  had  once  talked  to  her  fondly  of  marriage 
and  what  they  would  mean  to  each  other. 

All  of  these  things  preyed  heavily  upon  her  mind.  "He 
writes  to  me  but  seldom.  When  he  does  his  business  is  his 
principal  topic,"  she  would  say  to  herself.  "What  is  it  to  me 
if  he  does  make  five  million  out  of  his  scheme,  if  he  is  cold 
and  distant,  unsympathetic  and  unloving.  Could  I  be  happy 
with  him  with  his  disposition  so  changed?"  All  these  and 
many  other  questions  were  constantly  in  her  mind.  She  had  a 
great  sympathy  and  feeling  for  him,  and  knew  his  great 
anxiety  to  accomplish  something  worth  while,  to  be  useful  in 
his  day,  but  it  would  never  do  her  any  good  if  he  continued  in 
this  cold  and  indifferent  way. 


LOVE  IS  NO  RESPECTOR  OF  PERSONS     335 

Young  Randall  was  very  attentive  to  her  whenever  she 
would  permit  it.  He  was  jolly,  pleasant  and  very  accommo 
dating.  He  was  seeing  better  times  now,  for  he  was  making 
his  own  way  easily  from  his  profession.  He  now  had  money 
to  pay  all  expenses  and  to  enjoy  some  of  the  things  which  he 
had  formerly  denied  himself.  But  in  it  all  he  never  forgot  the 
kindness  that  Myrtle  had  shown  him  one  time  when  he  was 
down  and  out;  how  her  one  act  in  helping  him  to  a  suit  of 
clothes  at  a  very  critical  time  had  saved  the  day  for  him  and 
had  been  the  turning  point  in  his  life.  From  that  day  he  had 
looked  upon  the  world  as  kind  and  friendly  and  refused  to 
believe  it  cold  and  selfish. 

To  him  no  other  girl  was  so  charming  and  kind  hearted  as 
Myrtle  Winters.  He  would  gladly  have  asked  her  to  be  his 
life  companion  had  it  not  been  that  he  considered  Lew  had  the 
first  claim  upon  her.  He  was  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to 
even  think  of  mentioning  such  a  thing  to  her,  for  the  sake  of 
the  Mannings,  who  had  been  his  benefactors  and  done  so  much 
to  help  him  get  his  education  and  his  present  position.  He 
knew  Myrtle  was  lonely  in  her  senior  year  at  the  university 
without  Lew. 

Lew's  younger  brother,  Robert,  who  was  the  same  age 
as  Myrtle,  had  also  started  at  the  university  and  was  making 
rapid  progress  in  his  work.  He  was  in  a  different  depart 
ment  than  Myrtle,  and  did  not  appear  in  any  of  her  classes, 
yet  he  made  it  a  point  to  see  her  often  and  look  after  his 
brother's  interests,  as  he  expressed  it,  for  he  knew  that  Lew 
and  Myrtle  were  very  intimate.  He  always  gave  a  hearty 
laugh  when  he  said  it,  though,  for  he,  too,  greatly  admired 
her  and  was  in  her  company  almost  as  much  as  Lew. 

He  was  a  tall,  handsome,  dark  complexioned  young  fel 
low,  and  his  interest  in  athletics  had  developed  in  him  a  per 
fect  figure.  His  ways  were  far  more  congenial  to  Myrtle  than 
Lew's,  who  was  all  business  and  who  cared  little  for  society 
or  entertainment  since  he  had  taken  up  his  chosen  work. 


336 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Robert,  like  Myrtle,  was  religiously  turned,  and  he  fre 
quently  took  her  to  church.  He  was  very  kind  and  polite 
and  did  all  in  his  power  to  make  those  about  him  enjoy  his 
company,  in  which  he  was  usually  successful.  He  knew  that 
Myrtle  was  very  lonely  without  Lew  that  year,  so  he  took 
it  upon  himself  to  go  and  see  her  often.  He  thought  it  a 
good  joke  upon  his  brother  that  Myrtle  did  not  object  to  his 
company. 

The  fact  was  that  Myrtle  did  greatly  admire  Robert,  but 
Lew  had  been  in  her  class  at  high  school  and  they  had  fallen 
in  love.  They  both  expected  that  it  would  go  further  when 
school  days  were  over. 

Jim  Randall  noticed  the  attention  that  Robert  was  paying 
her  and  sometimes  joked  her  about  it,  asking  her  if  she  was 
going  to  take  both  of  them  to  raise,  but  she  always  turned 
it  off  with  a  laugh. 

Randall  called  at  the  dormitory  many  times  to  take  Myrtle 
for  a  walk  to  the  city  or  to  some  entertainment.  She  soon 
grew  to  enjoy  his  company,  for  he  showed  her  the  little  kind 
nesses  and  attentions  that  her  girl  heart  craves.  Several  times 
he  mentioned  the  fact  that  he  did  not  want  her  to  think  he  was 
imposing  or  betraying  Lew's  confidence. 

She  rather  encouraged  him,  and  told  him  time  and  again 
that  it  wasn't  an  imposition,  but  a  pleasure  to  have  his  com 
pany.  Once  he  asked: 

"Myrtle,  do  you  suppose  that  Mr.  Manning  or  Lew  would 
be  offended  at  either  of  us  if  they  knew  we  saw  each  other 
so  often?" 

"Why  should  they?     They  have  no  control  over  me,  and 
I  am  of  age." 

"I  know,  but  I  also  know  that  you  and  Lew  have  been 
very  intimate  friends  for  years,  and  it  is  commonly  under 
stood  that  some  day  you  will  be  more  than  friends.  Lew  and 
his  father  have  both  befriended  me  many  times  and  I  would 


LOVE  IS  NO   RESPECTOR  OF  PERSONS    337 

not  lay  a  straw  in  the  way  of  their  happiness  for  anything  in 
the  world." 

"Perhaps  you  don't  enjoy  my  company,  Jim,"  jokingly 
as  if  she  didn't  understand  his  meaning. 

"Not  that,  little  girl.  The  Lord  knows  I  enjoy  your  com 
pany  more  than  that  of  any  other  living  person.  I  would 
almost  worship  you  if  I  thought  I  dared  to,"  he  replied,  very 
seriously,  his  voice  trembling  a  little. 

"Why,  Jim,  you  don't  mean  that,"  her  face  flushing  some 
what. 

"Indeed  I  do,  Mrytle,  but  I  mustn't  think  of  such  a  thing 
for  the  sake  of  the  confidence  I  might  betray.  I  am  largely 
indebted  to  Mr.  Manning  and  Lew  for  my  college  education. 
Yes,  and  I  must  not  overlook  you,  too,  for  you  had  a  big 
hand  in  helping  me,  and  one  that  I  shall  never  forget  to  the 
longest  day  I  live." 

"Don't  be  so  serious  about  it,  Jim.  I  didn't  do  a  bit  more 
for  you  than  I  would  do  for  any  other  person  under  the  same 
circumstances  who  was  just  as  worthy." 

"I  know,  Myrtle,  that  you  are  a  gracious  little  creature, 
kind  and  true.  That  is  why  I  adore  you  so  much,"  said  Jim, 
moving  closer  to  her. 

"You  mustn't  talk  like  that,  Jim,  please;  but  to  tell  the 
truth,  I  feel  somewhat  the  same  towards  you,"  said  Myrtle, 
blushing  as  she  admitted  it.  "Your  stand  in  these  matters 
compels  me  to  admire  your  manly  principles.  I  don't  believe 
there  is  another  boy  in  a  thousand  but  what  would  forget  a 
former  kindness  shown  him  and  try  to  follow  up  any  advan 
tages  he  may  have  gained  over  another.  I  honor  you  for  it, 
Jim  Randall,  and  if  it  won't  turn  your  head,  I'll  say  that  you 
have  the  character  that  will  place  you  above  all  others  if  you 
continue  in  the  future  as  you  have  started  out." 

"Thank  you,  Myrtle,"  replied  Jim,  his  voice  trembling 
wTith  emotion,  "but  up  in  Sacramento  there  is  a  little  old 

22 


338 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

woman  bending  over  the  washtub  every  day  to  raise  money 
enough  to  educate  her  children.  She  is  the  one  who  has 
taught  me  all  the  principles  of  manhood  and  honor  that  I 
have.  She  is  praying  this  day,  as  she  prays  every  day,  that 
her  boy  may  continue  to  be  as  she  reared  him  to  be,  a  worthy 
man  and  an  honor  to  her  and  her  God,  to  whom  she  is  de 
voted.  I  would  not  betray  my  mother  if  all  others  forsook 
me." 

She  looked  up  into  his  face  and  saw  that  his  eyes  were 
wet  at  the  memory  of  his  mother,  and  her  eyes  moistened, 
too.  For  a  moment  neither  spoke,  then  Jim  caught  himself 
and  said: 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Myrtle.  I  didn't  intend  to  create  pity 
for  myself,  but  I  just  want  you  to  know  the  truth." 

"Not  that,  Jim.  I  wish  all  men  were  as  loyal  to  their 
mothers  as  you  are.  It  makes  me  admire  you  all  the  more.  I 
do  like  and  enjoy  your  company,"  and  he  gave  her  hand  a 
squeeze  as  she  said  it,  "and  I  would  be  glad  to  let  you  know 
it  if  I  was  certain  of  a  few  things.  Pardon  me  for  being  so 
frank  with  you,  but  I  believe  I  can  trust  you,  and  if  I  talk 
frankly  to  you  I  know  it  will  go  no  further." 

"If  you  think  you  can't,  don't  do  it,"  was  the  quick  reply. 

".I  must  confess  to  you,  Jim,"  and  her  eyes  filled  up  with 
tears,  while  a  choking  sensation  in  her  throat  prevented  her 
from  speaking  for  a  moment,  then  she  continued  :  "I  am  so  lone 
ly  without  Lew.  We  have  been  such  constant  companions  all 
these  years  and  he  was  very  dear  to  me.  Then  he  took  up  this 
mining  and  reclamation  proposition  and  has  become  so  ab 
sorbed  in  it  that  he  has  grown  very  cold  and  indifferent  to 
everything  else  but  his  business.  He  has  not  been  here  to 
see  me  all  this  year  and  he  writes  but  seldom.  When  he  does, 
it  is  mostly  all  about  his  business.  In  his  last  letter  he  said 
that  the  company  had  given  him  a  five  million  dollar  interest 
in  the  company  in  his  own  name,  and  that  it  would  be  worth 
that  as  soon  as  the  water  started  through  the  flumes. 


LOVE  IS  NO  RESPECTOR  OF  PERSONS     339 

"But  there  was  not  a  word  of  what  I  wanted  to  hear  in  all 
the  letter.  I  like  him  so  very  much,  but  I  guess  he  has  for 
gotten  all  about  my  feelings  and  how  lonely  I  am,  and  makes 
his  business  his  companion  instead.  If  he  was  only  the  kind, 
loving  and  sympathetic  man  that  you  are,  Jirn,  I  am  sure  that 
I  could  be  very  happy,  even  now  in  our  separation.  I  think 
he  is  depending  upon  me,  but  I  don't  know  how  I  shall  feel 
about  it  or  what  I  shall  do  when  I  see  him.  I  have  asked 
father  about  him,  and  he  says  there  is  no  truer  man  living 
than  Lew  Manning,  but  that  he  was  all  business.  He  said  he 
had  scolded  him  for  his  indifference  to  me,  but  that  has 
not  changed  it  any.  His  scheme  is  everything  to  him." 

"Myrtle,  don't  ask  me  to  help  you  solve  this,"  replied 
Jim,  wanting  to  console  her,  yet  wishing  so  much  that  it  was 
he  that  she  was  longing  for,  "for  my  decision  might  be  biased 
and  partial.  You  know  'love  is  no  respecter  of  persons,'  and 
I  might  advise  you  from  a  selfish  motive,  as  much  as  it  is 
against  my  principles,  for  I  admire  you  so  much,"  putting  his 
hand  on  her  shoulder. 

"That  would  not  be  like  you,  Jim,"  she  said,  sincerely, 
looking  up  at  him  in  childlike  simplicity. 

"If  I  warned  you  fully  in  advance,  don't  you  think  it 
would?"  he  asked,  to  see  what  she  would  say. 

"Looking  at  it  that  wa'y,  I  suppose  so,"  she  replied,  with 
a  smile. 

"But  I  will  not  take  advantage  of  his  absence.  He  is  my 
friend,  but  you  are  so  much  more  than  that  to  me,  Myrtle, 
if  I  only  dared  think  so,"  he  said,  slipping  his  hand  from  her 
shoulder  gently  about  her  waist. 

"Jim,  I  appreciate  your  kind  thoughts  toward  me,  but  more 
than  that  I  am  unable  to  say." 

"Myrtle,  I  think  Lew  will  be  himself  again  as  soon  as  he 
makes  that  reclamation  scheme  a  success.  It  is  the  one  chance 
of  his  life  and  it  will  make  him  independent  if  he  makes  it 


340  WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

go.  I  can't  help  but  think  that  he  is  doing  it  all  for  you, 
and  that  you  will  share  it  and  be  happy  with  him  after  it  is 
accomplished,"  he  replied,  removing  his  arm  as  though  he 
were  doing  Lew  a  wrong. 

"I  have  tried  to  believe  that,  too,  Jim.  He  has  said  as 
much,  but  I  have  just  been  wondering  if  his  habits  of  life 
were  not  being  formed  now,  and  if  he  wouldn't  always  con 
tinue  this  way.  Our  professor  tells  us  that  we  form  our 
habits  of  life  from  eighteen  to  twenty-five,  and  as  we  settle 
down  then,  so  we  are  likely  to  remain.  I  could  not  be  happy 
with  him  if  he  is  always  so  cool  and  businesslike  as  he  has 
been  since  he  got  into  this  mining  business." 

"Let  us  hope  it  will  be  otherwise,  Myrtle,"  replied  Jim, 
making  as  though  he  intended  to  go.  "But  you  can  always 
depend  upon  it  that  I  am  your  friend  and  will  be  always 
ready  to  do  anything  for  your  happiness.  I  will  not  betray 
any  confidence  you  place  in  me,  and  I  will  be  honorable  to 
the  Mannings,  as  they  have  been  to  me.  Were  it  not  for 
that  I  would  get  into  the  contest  for  the  hand  of  the  young 
lady  we  both  admire,  with  the  determination  to  win,  as  I  do 
in  other  things.  As  it  is,  I  must  seek  to  win  my  fortune  else 
where,  unless  you  should  decide  in  my  favor  without  any 
digression  of  the  confidence  the  Mannings  have  placed  in  me. 
Have  I  made  it  plain?"  arising  from  his  chair. 

"You  have,  but  don't  make  it  so  final,  Jim.  I'm  really  not 
engaged  to  Lew,  but  I  must  admit  that  such  had  been  his  in 
timations  and  understanding  and,  I  might  say,  our  inten 
tions.  I  am  undecided  at  the  present  time,  though,  and  I 
might  change  my  mind  later.  I  want  to  see  him  first.  Will 
that  be  agreeable  to  you?" 

"Perfectly,  but  really  I  have  nothing  to  say  in  the  matter. 
Perhaps  we  can  talk  it  over  again  sometime,  when  you  are 
more  settled  in  your  mind  as  to  what  you  wish  to  do.  I 
must  go  now,  so  will  say  good-night." 


LOVE  IS  NO   RESPECTQR  OF  PERSONS     341 

"Good-night,  Jim." 

He  took  her  hand,  but  held  it  a  little  longer  than  was 
his  custom,  and  gave  it  an  understanding  squeeze  which  ex 
pressed  more  than  he  could  say.  Looking  up,  he  noticed  that 
her  eyes  were  moist  again. 

*          *****          **** 

The  school  year  was  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close.  Myrtle 
and  Jim  were  each  to  graduate  with  honors.  Jim  was  one  of 
those  chosen  to  orate  from  a  very  large  class,  for  he  had  won 
laurels  as  a  speaker  all  during  his  college  course,  winning 
most  of  the  contests  and  carrying  off  the  honors  of  his  class. 

His  selections  were  usually  good,  live,  up-to-date  subjects. 
He  was  allowed  to  select  his  own  subject  on  this  occasion, 
and  as  he  was  going  out  as  a  clergyman  he  deemed  it  wise 
to  choose  some  subject  that  would  have  a  bearing  upon  his 
future  work.  He  was  clever  and  wise  enough  to  give  it  a 
name  which  would  not  betray  his  line  of  thought  in  advance, 
as  the  subjects  were  to  be  printed  upon  the  programs.  He 
spent  no  little  time  in  gathering  and  arranging  his  subject 
matter,  for  it  was  to  be  his  final,  and  he  hoped  his  master 
effort,  one  that  would  live  long  after  he  was  gone  from  the 
halls  of  the  old  university. 

Myrtle  was  not  a  speaker  upon  this  occasion,  for  she  had 
specialized  in  art,  music  and  literature.  She  had  made  good 
records  in  these  lines,  but  had  not  developed  a  liking  for  pub 
lic  speaking.  She  loved  to  appear  in  public  in  her  music, 
though,  and  in  that  she  was  right  at  home  at  any  time  or 
place. 

Myrtle  received  a  message  from  Lew  a  few  days  before 
her  graduation,  expressing  his  regrets  that  urgent  business 
connected  with  the  company  prevented  his  leaving  at  that 
time,  and  wishing  her  and  Jim  Randall  success  and  honors  in 
their  graduation,  hoping  to  see  them  both  in  a  short  time  at 
Sacramento. 


342 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Commencement  day  came,  and  a  great  crowd  was  gathered 
for  this  annual  event.  The  fame  of  young  Randall  as  a 
speaker  had  gone  out  and  much  was  expected  of  him.  His 
subject  was  "The  Irrepressible  Conflict,"  and  when  his  time 
came  he  stepped  out  on  the  platform  with  the  utmost  ease, 
while  great  applause  was  given  him.  He  bowed  a  number 
of  times  in  acknowledgment  of  the  tribute  paid  him,  and 
then  began  this  his  last  speech  in  the  old  school  before  his 
friends  and  classmates. 

He  stood  tall  and  erect,  his  eyes  beaming  with  the  in 
spiration  of  the  occasion.  Then  he  uttered  his  first  words  in 
a  clear,  distinct  voice  which  held  the  attention  from  the  start : 

THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  CONFLICT 

"There  never  has  been  a  time  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world  but  that  man,  when  he  undertook  to  accomplish  any 
great  work,  had  to  struggle  against  great  odds  to  make  ad 
vancement.  Little  by  little  he  has  to  fight  his  way  upwards 
until  the  cherished  object  is  attained.  The  fruits  of  his  victory 
are  sweeter  and  dearer  to  him  after  the  conflict  has  beens 
waged  and  won.  So  it  was  intended  by  the  Great  Designer 
of  man's  career  upon  this  earth.  It  matters  not  what  your 
opinion  and  mine  are  about  how  we  came  to  be  here,  or  what 
caused  the  great  struggles  we  have  to  wage.  It  is  enough  to 
know  that  we  are  here,  and  that  the  struggles  are  before  us 
which  we  have  to  meet.  The  way  in  which  we  meet  them  will 
largely  decide  our  happiness  during  our  earthly  sojourn. 

"It  has  been  said  time  and  again  within  the  classrooms  of 
this  great  university  that  man  has  come  up  through  a  process 
of  development  from  the  very  lowest  form  of  life,  through 
the  various  forms  of  animal  life,  until  he  finally  passed  from 
the  monkey  to  the  man.  Be  that  as  it  may,  if  it  is  true  it  has 
involved  one  of  the  greatest  struggles  known  to  the  world  to 
accomplish  such  a  feat.  It  is  acknowledged  by  the  best 


LOVE  IS  NO  RESPECTOR  OF  PERSONS     343 

anthropologists  and  historians  that  we  have  a  complete  and 
reliable  history  of  the  human  race  dating  back  for  six 
thousand  years.  At  that  far  off  date  we  have  Adam  and  Eve, 
his  wife,  as  perfect  a  man  and  woman  as  any  human  beings 
today,  and  all  during  that  long  period  of  time  there  has  never 
been  a  case  of  a  monkey,  or  a  dog,  or  a  horse  turning  to  a 
man  or  anything  similar. 

"If  it  were  possible  for  such  a  process  of  development 
there  would  be  animals  of  various  kinds  today  passing  from 
pne  state  to  another,  as  the  students  of  this  institution  pass 
from  the  freshman  to  the  sophomore  classes  and  on  up  to  the 
graduation  period.  You  and  I  know  that  such  a  thing  has 
not  only  never  been  heard  of,  but  we  all  know  it  is  impossible. 
We  can  take  a  monkey  and  educate  him  as  long  as  he  lives, 
and  he  will  continue  to  be  a  monkey.  Likewise  with  the  dog 
and  the  horse.  The  reason  is  obvious.  The  Great  Creator, 
when  He  had  finished  the  creation  of  all  animal  life,  looked 
upon  His  work,  and  seeing  that  it  was  good,  said :  'Let  every 
kind  bring  forth  after  its  kind.'  That  was  the  law  laid  down 
then  that  has  never  been  violated  and  cannot  be.  God  has 
made  it  impossible  to  cross  the  dog  with  the  sheep  or  the  cow 
with  the  horse,  for  He  said  let  every  animal  bring  forth  after 
its  kind,  and  that  law  cannot  be  violated  any  more  than  you 
can  cross  the  law  of  gravitation  with  the  centrifugal  force. 

"If  all  kinds  of  life  sprang  from  one  source,  the  amoeba, 
which  is  the  lowest  form  of  animal  life,  and  went  through  the 
process  of  development,  why  did  they  not  all  come  up  at  the  same 
time  ?  Why  do  we  have  the  amoeba  existing  yet  ?  Why  every 
other  variety  of  life  existing  as  it  is  ?  Why  some  of  it  so  tardy  ? 
Why  not  some  universal  law  governing  its  habits,  its  nature  and 
its  reproduction?  Why  is  it  that  some  kinds  of  life  reproduce 
themselves  in  three  weeks  while  others  take  a  month,  others 
four  months,  nine  months  and  eleven  months? 

"If  God  did  make  man  out  of  a  monkey,  then  it  must  have 


344 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

taken  Him  ages  upon  ages  to  do  so,  but  it  occurs  to  me  that 
some  of  these  modern  advocates  of  such  nonsense  make  a 
monkey  of  themselves  in  about  five  minutes  after  they 
get  started  in  their  arguments  along  this  line.  The  fact  is, 
such  doctrines  are  good  to  talk,  but  not  good  to  believe.  In 
our  health  and  strength  we  may  argue  for  and  say  things 
for  argument's  sake,  but  there  are  very  few  here  in  the  sound 
of  my  voice  today  but  that,  when  they  come  to  look  death  square 
in  the  face,  are  willing  to  drop  their  pet  theories  and  call  for 
the  sacred  rights  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man  spake  be 
fore. 

"There  can  be  no  question  but  that  man  had  a  Creator, 
just  as  this  old  earth  had  a  Creator.  The  best  scientists  in 
all  ages  and  schools  are  compelled  to  admit  that  life 
can  only  come  from  life.  It  matters  not  which  was  first,  the 
hen  or  the  egg,  life  cannot  spring  into  existence  of  itself. 
The  best  scientists  or  inventors  the  world  has  ever  produced 
must  admit  that  life  can  only  come  from  a  former  life;  that 
they  have  never  been  able  to  produce  it.  That  being  true, 
the  first  life  must  come  from  the  great  God  who  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  all  that  is  therein.  If,  therefore, 
God  could  and  did  create  life,  could  He  not  create  man  just 
as  easily  as  the  amoeba  or  the  monkey  ?  Let  us  use  reason  as 
well  as  science. 

"When  God  created  man  He  made  him  in  His  own  image — 
a  perfect  being,  in  which  state  he  remained  for  about  a 
hundred  years,  until  the  perfect  state  was  lost  through  the 
sin  of  transgression.  Then  the  irrepressible  conflict  began, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  the  struggle  between  the  great 
forces  of  right  and  wrong  have  been  waged.  Man  is  between 
them.  By  his  efforts  he  can  wage  the  conflict  against  wrong, 
superstition  and  ignorance  and  become  useful  to  the  world  in 
the  age  in  which  he  lives.  He  is  made  higher  than  the  ani 
mals  because  he  thinks,  he  reasons,  he  moves  in  a  higher 


LOVE  IS  NO  RESPECTQR  OF  PERSONS     345 

sphere  than  the  animal  and  has  power  to  worship  his  Creator, 
while  the  animal  is  incapable  of  even  knowing  of  Him. 

"The  One  who  created  man  is  ever  mindful  of  him  and 
concerned  about  his  happiness  and  well  being.  He  furnished 
him  in  times  past  with  patriarchs,  priests  and  prophets  to 
guide  and  instruct  him  in  the  way  of  righteousness,  but  in 
these  latter  days  He  has  spoken  to  man  through  His  Son,  and 
in  so  doing  gave  the  world  the  elements  of  a  religion  which 
alone  can  and  does  bring  satisfaction  to  the  human  race;  not 
only  in  this  lifetime,  but  in  our  dying  hour,  it  brings  the 
peace  and  satisfaction  that  nothing  else  can  give.  At  such  a 
time  philosophy,  pet  theories  and  dogmas  are  all  cast  to  the 
wind  and  the  name  of  the  lowly  Nazarene  is  a  sweet  morsel 
on  our  lisping,  stammering  tongues. 

"He  never  intended  that  there  should  be  divisions  and 
factions  among  us,  fighting  each  other,  but  that  we  should  all 
engage  in  this  great  irrepressible  conflict  enlisted  under  the 
same  banner,  fighting  a  common  enemy  and  lifting  up  the  fallen, 
the  needy  and  the  sorrowful,  bringing  joy  and  peace  and  hap 
piness  to  those  who  know  not  God  and  who  do  not  keep  His 
commandments. 

"You  or  I  may  not  believe  these  things,  but  that  does  not 
change  them  in  the  least.  They  are  facts  and  remain  as  such 
no  matter  what  we  believe.  God  knew  what  was  best  for 
man  and  made  all  things  accordingly.  He  did  not  make  the 
crude  ore  of  the  mine  into  the  finished  product  of  the  steel 
blade,  but  gave  us  the  ore  and  gave  man  the  brain  and  muscle 
to  wage  the  conflict  until  the  finished  product  is  brought  about 
for  man's  use.  He  does  not  bring  the  baby  into  this  world  a 
man  and  a  finished  product,  but  gives  him  a  brain  and  in 
structors  to  tell  him  that  the  conflict  is  on,  and  for  him  to 
wage  the  struggle  against  ignorance,  superstition  and  vice, 
that  he  may  develop  into  a  master  mind  in  his  manhood. 

"We,  as  students,  are  launching  out  into  the  world  today, 


346 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

and  some  day  the  conflict  will  be  over  and  an  accounting  will 
be  taken.  Will  we  have  so  lived  that  we  have  made  the  world 
better  or  mankind  happier?  Will  our  epitaphs  be  written  on 
monuments  of  marble  or  in  the  minds  and  lives  of  men  and 
women  made  better  and  happier  because  we  lived?  Will  it 
be  said  of  each,  'He  did  what  good  he  could,'  or  that  'He  left 
his  footprints  in  the  sands  of  time?'  or  will  our  lives  pass 
away  in  a  mist,  with  no  memory  left  behind  of  good  or  merit 
to  blaze  the  way  for  others?  We  should  remember  that  the 
greatest  and  truest  men  the  world  has  ever  known  have  been 
men  with  faith  in  God  and  their  fellow  men,  and  I  bid  you 
all  'Go  thou  and  do  likewise.' 

"Let  the  progressive  man  look  forward  and  not  backward ; 
let  him  look  upward  and  not  downward.  If  his  ancestors 
were  monkeys,  let  him  forget  it  and  try  not  to  go  back  to 
them.  Look  ahead  and  above,  and  let  that  development  proc 
ess  go  on  until  he  is  like  the  God  of  this  universe.  Let  all 
his  praise  be  to  a  god  of  high  ideals,  and  not  for  the  degrading 
animal,  the  monkey.  Let  him  look  to  the  God  of  the  Bible, 
to  whom  all  praise  is  due  and  from  whom  all  blessings  come." 

He  finished  and  took  his  seat  in  the  reverent  silence  that 
was  upon  the  house  before  the  people  realized  that  he  had 
stopped  speaking.  Then  a  deafening  applause  went  up  for 
him,  which  seemed  to  come  from  every  one,  whether  they 
were  advocates  of  the  same  belief  or  not.  It  was  the  popu 
larity  of  young  Randall  and  his  great  ability  as  an  orator,  to 
gether  with  the  earnestness  in  his  beliefs,  that  were  con 
vincing.  These  qualities  had  won  honors  for  him  at  the  uni 
versity  upon  previous  occasions  and  were  doing  so  now. 
Although  some  did  not  agree  with  him  religiously,  yet  they 
appreciated  a  fellow  student  who  stood  for  something  and 
was  not  ashamed  to  let  it  be  known  what  he  believed. 

Myrtle  then  charmed  the  audience  with  a  musical  number 
which  she  played  exceedingly  well,  her  dainty  fingers  flying 


LOVE  IS  NO  RESPECTQR  OF  PERSONS     347 

deftly  over  the  keys.     Her  name  was  upon  every  lip,  for  her 
ability  and  beautiful  face  had  appealed  to  them  all. 

School  days  were  now  over.  Myrtle  returned  to  her  home 
and  Jim  Randall  also  went  to  Sacramento,  for  he  wanted  to 
pay  his  mother  a  visit  before  going  to  his  new  field  of  labors 
in  his  chosen  work.  He  had  scarcely  reached  home  and 
greeted  his  mother,  brother  and  sisters  when  a  messenger 
came  to  their  door  with  a  note  for  the  Reverend  James 
Randall.  As  he  broke  the  seal  and  glanced  over  the  contents, 
a  flush  came  over  his  face. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 

When  a  man  undertakes  a  great  proposition  and  is  suc 
cessful  in  any  degree,  he  will  make  enemies  and  meet  oppo 
sition,  no  matter  how  careful  and  honest  he  is  in  his  trans 
actions.  He  may  do  nothing  wrong,  but  he  will  have  them 
to  contend  with  just  the  same,  for  the  lust  of  greed  and  the 
jealousy  that  one  man  has  for  another's  property  will  make 
rivals  and  enemies  for  him,  if  nothing  else  does. 

Here  was  a  young  man  with  an  original  idea  of  redeem 
ing  thousands  of  acres  of  useless  lands  and  of  affording  the 
mining  people  a  chance  to  work  their  mines,  which  had  been 
forcibly  closed  down  because  of  the  loss  they  had  brought  to 
the  farmers  in  the  valley.  While  the  plan  was  new,  yet  it 
was  just  what  every  one  seemed  to  want.  Why  should  there 
be  any  opposition  to  such  admirable  work.  Everybody  knew 
that  it  was  the  greatest  undertaking  in  the  United  States,  yet 
no  one  envied  Lew  Manning  his  job,  for  they  did  not  believe 
it  could  be  financed.  Lew  had  gone  to  Congress  with  the 
plan  and  had  met  no  encouragement.  It  looked  like  it  was 
doomed  to  failure,  and  the  only  man  who  had  faith  in  it  and 
stood  firm  was  Lew.  He  was  sure  that  he  could  finance  it, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  could  not  interest  Congress 
in  it.  In  the  face  of  that  failure  he  invented  another  plan  to 
finance  his  scheme  upon  its  merits  alone.  • 

In  organizing  his  company  he  had  hard  work  to  enlist 
the  influence  of  such  men  as  ex-Governor  Samuels,  and  even 
his  own  father.  They  did  not  think  it  could  be  financed  and 
did  not  want  to  get  into  anything  that  might  fail  and  cause 
them  great  financial  loss  and  disgrace.  To  get  the  ex-Gov 
ernor  to  take  the  presidency  of  the  company  and  lend  his  in 
fluence  cost  Lew  one  million  dollars  in  stock,  but  it  was 
worth  it.  The  ex-Governor's  name  at  the  head  of  the  propo 
sition  gave  it  a  good  standing,  for  every  one  knew  him  and 

348 


CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 349 

had  the  utmost  confidence  in  him,  and  his  ability  to  carry 
things  through. 

For  three  solid  weeks  Lew  stayed  with  ex-Governor  Ed 
ward  R.  Samuels  explaining  this  feature  and  that,  figuring 
the  costs  of  construction,  the  amount  of  gravel  to  be  sluiced 
and  the  amount  of  land  that  it  would  fill ;  the  amount  of  gold 
that  could  be  recovered  and  the  profits  it  would  bring  to  the 
company.  Then,  last  of  all,  the  raising  of  the  money.  Could 
it  be  done? 

Lew  Manning  had  everything  upon  the  tip  of  his  tongue, 
so  that  the  Governor  knew  that  he  understood  what  he  was 
talking  about.  He  soon  found  out  that  he  was  also  an  extraor 
dinary  young  man  and  engineer  as  well,  both  capable  and 
trustworthy.  Then  it  was  that  he  decided  to  give  his  influence 
and  take  the  active  part  as  president  of  the  corporation.  From 
that  time  on  it  became  a  success.  The  people  knew  that  if  the 
ex-Governor  was  at  the  head  of  it  it  was  all  right,  and 
that  he  would  make  it  a  success. 

Every  newspaper  in  the  country  gave  it  space,  and  the 
enterprise  was  discussed  in  every  detail  just  as  young  Man 
ning  had  worked  them  out.  In  fact,  he  furnished  the  re 
porters  with  all  the  data  which  were  published.  He  had 
worked  out  the  profits  coming  to  the  miners,  to  the  land 
holders  and  to  the  stockholders  of  the  corporation. 

Here  are  some  of  the  headlines  and  articles  which  ap 
peared  in  the  papers  about  the  company,  with  exhaustive  com 
ments  by  the  editors : 

"THE  GREATEST  PROPOSITION  OF  THE  AGE" 

"MILLIONS  TO  BE  RECOVERED  BY  THE  RESUMPTION  OF 
HYDRAULIC  MINING" 

"CALIFORNIA'S  SWAMP  LANDS  TO  BE  RECLAIMED" 

"A  YOUNG  ENGINEER  IN  COLLEGE  WORKS  OUT  GREAT 

PLAN." 

The  comments  would  say: 
"California's  thousands  of  acres  of  swamp  lands  are  to  be 


350 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

turned  into  blooming  gardens,  fields  of  grain  and  fruit 
orchards.  The  present  haunt  of  snakes  and  the  breeding 
places  of  mosquitoes  and  disease  are  to  be  turned  into  useful 
lands  for  farming.  A  young  college  student  in  the  state  uni 
versity  by  the  name  of  Lew  Manning  has  worked  out  a  plan 
whereby  this  great  work  can  be  accomplished.  While  but  a 
boy,  he  had  made  a  fortune  for  himself  in  mining,  and  being 
hurt  at  the  thought  of  the  courts  stopping  hydraulic  mining 
while  it  was  just  in  its  infancy  and  leaving  some  two  billions 
of  dollars  in  gold  yet  untouched  in  the  gravel  beds,  he  set  him 
self  to  work  out  a  plan  whereby  the  mining  might  go  on 
and  these  vast  fortunes  recovered. 

"While  traveling  through  the  Sacramento  valley  he  saw 
the  swamp  lands,  and  knowing  their  utter  worthlessness  in 
that  condition,  he  asked  himself  why  this  uneven  distribution 
of  things  ?  Why  all  those  millions  of  tons  of  gravel  stored  up 
in  the  hills  when  the  swamp  lands  need  it  so  badly?  But  the 
filling  of  the  streams  with  debris  had  caused  the  courts  to 
prohibit  this  kind  of  mining.  He  thought  there  ought  to  be 
some  way  to  convey  the  silt  to  the  places  where  it  was  most 
needed,  so  he  set  to  work  upon  this  problem,  and  as  the  result 
of  his  labors  the  cement  flume  is  to  be  constructed  and  the 
riArer  waters  with  the  silt  and  debris  are  to  be  emptied  into 
these  swamp  lands.  Not  only  will  mining  be  resumed,  but 
these  waste  lands  will  be  made  useful.  The  proposition  will 
cost  a  hundred  million  dollars  to  put  into  operation.  A  cor 
poration  of  that  size  has  been  organized,  with  ex-Governor 
Edward  R.  Samuels  as  President,  Henry  Manning,  a  wealthy 
rancher  and  mining  man,  as  Vice-President ;  R.  H.  Kramer, 
Secretary,  and  George  Garner,  Treasurer,  the  two  well-known 
bankers.  Honorable  Jack  Winters,  Congressman-elect,  is  the 
attorney  for  the  corporation,  while  Abraham  Roe,  the  well 
known  U.  S.  Government  surveyor,  will  assist  Lew  Manning, 
a  graduate  engineer  and  the  originator  of  the  plan,  in  engi 
neering  the  work.  With  such  men  as  these  back  of  it,  the 
undertaking  is  destined  to  be  a  great  success.  Every  detail 
has  been  worked  out  and  is  fully  understood. 

"Hundreds  of  gravel  mines  will  now  be  worked  and 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  will  be  taken  from  them.  Ten 


CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 351 

per  cent  of  the  gross  returns  from  these  mines  will  be  paid  to 
the  California  Development  and  Mining  Company  for  the 
use  of  the  flumes  to  carry  the  debris  to  the  swamp  lands, 
which  in  itself  will  be  a  source  of  great  profit  to  the  company. 

"The  debris  will  be  deposited  and  the  swamp  lands  filled 
in-  sections  to  a  depth  that  will  insure  the  lands  being  perma 
nently  dry  and  useful  for  any  purpose  whatsoever.  Auger 
dredgers  will  be  put  in  the  swamp  lands  ahead  of  the  fills  and 
the  rich  deposit  of  black  soil  in  the  swamps  will  be  pumped 
upon  the  filled  ground,  giving  it  a  coating  of  rich  black  soil. 
A  reasonable  charge  will  be  made  for  filling  the  lands,  based 
upon  its  valuation  by  appraisers. 

"The  cement  flume  will  be  permanent  and  will  be  used  for 
irrigating  all  the  lands  of  the  valley  within  reach  of  it,  thus 
making  this  part  of  California  the  most  prosperous  and  de 
sirable  in  the  state.  Lands  have  already  taken  a  very  de 
cided  advance  in  price. 

"The  survey  has  been  run  and  the  right  of  way  secured  in 
the  main.  A  million  dollar  cement  plant  will  be  constructed 
upon  the  ground  and  all  of  the  needed  cement  for  the  flumes 
will  be  made  there.  It  is  estimated  that  the  profits  to  the  com 
pany  from  all  sources  will  be  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent  per 
annum.  The  value  that  it  will  be  to  the  state  as  an  improve 
ment  has  caused  the  Legislature  to  exempt  it  from  taxation 
for  a  long  term  of  years ;  thus  those  investing  in  its  stock  will 
profit  largely. 

"Bankers,  merchants  and  financiers  everywhere  are  gob 
bling  up  this  stock,  and  it  is  said  that  more  than  half  of  the 
necessary  money  for  the  construction  work  has  already  been 
subscribed.  The  rest  will  come  soon  and  fast,  for  the  merits 
of  the  proposition  and  the  men  back  of  it  give  the  investing 
public  confidence  in  it,  and  the  stock  is  in  great  demand.  Per 
haps  no  other  corporation  in  the  United  States  has  under 
taken  so  great  a  task  and  financed  it  with  so  little  difficulty. 
Brokers  from  all  over  the  country  are  pouring  in  their  orders 
for  stock,  and  without  doubt  it  will  soon  be  oversubscribed. 
Many  who  will  want  in  on  it  will  not  be  able  to  get  in.  Finan 
ciers  from  Europe  are  cabling  in  their  orders  for  millions  in 
stock.  The  par  value  of  the  shares  is  one  hundred  dollars, 


352 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

and  the  stock  is  sold  at  par.  The  head  office  of  the  company 
is  in  Sacramento,  and  ex— Governor  Edward  R.  Samuels  is  the 
reliable  man  in  charge." 

As  soon  as  these  newspaper  articles  began  to  make  their 
appearance  there  became  a  constant  stream  of  real  estate  men 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  visiting  that  section,  looking  for 
snaps  that  they  might  pick  up.  Options  were  being  taken  on 
swamp  lands  everywhere  they  could  be  had.  The  company 
soon  saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  some  action  for  its  pro 
tection,  and  inserted  the  following  advertisement  in  the  papers  : 

"LAND  OWNERS,  TAKE  NOTICE. 

"Parties  who  own  swamp  lands  which  need  filling,  or 
which  are  in  the  vicinity  of  the  company  works,  should  not 
give  strangers  options  upon  them  until  they  see  the  President 
or  Engineer  of  the  California  Development  and  Mining  Com 
pany,  and  learn  something  that  will  be  greatly  to  their  ad 
vantage. 

"EDWARD  R.   SAMUELS,  President, 
"LEW  MANNING,  Engineer." 

A  crowd  of  people  swamped  the  office  of  the  company 
after  that,  not  only  the  land  owners  who  wanted  to  see  the 
President,  but  those  wanting  information  about  practically 
everything  connected  with  it.  A  dozen  extra  secretaries  were 
employed  not  only  to  give  the  information  desired,  but  to  take 
care  of  the  orders  for  stock  in  the  company.  Every  mail 
brought  hundreds  of  letters,  mostly  for  stock  or  additional 
information  about  the  concern.  Brokers  were  telegraphing 
in  their  orders  from  all  sections  of  the  country,  and  the  ad 
vertising  the  company  was  inserting  in  the  newspapers  was 
doing  good  business.  The  stock  was  selling  fast  and  it  soon 
became  evident  that  if  the  demand  continued  another  month 
as  it  was  now  the  stock  would  likely  be  oversubscribed  and 
many  orders  would  have  to  be  returned  to  the  senders. 

The  bank  account  of  the  company  had  grown  into  the 
millions  and  was  so  large  that  George  Garner  did  not  feel  that 


353 


it  was  safe  for  his  bank  to  take  more  upon  deposit.  Thousands 
and  millions  were  deposited  in  other  banks  of  the  city  and' at 
San  Francisco  to  the  company's  credit.  The  proposition  was 
now  a  success  as  far  as  the  financial  side  of  it  was  concerned, 
and  the  work  could  now  be  started  and  pushed  along  with  no 
fear  of  lack  of  funds  with  which  to  go  ahead.  This  took  a 
burden  from  Jack  Winters'  heart,  for  his  only  fears  had  been 
that  the  money  could  never  be  raised.  Lew  Manning  had 
never  doubted  it  for  a  minute.  He  was  a  man  of  faith  and 
knew  no  such  word  as  "failure"  or  "it  can't  be  done." 

Day  by  day  the  stock  sales  continued  and  the  money  piled 
up  in  the  banks  to  the  company's  account,  until  at  last  all  the 
treasury  stock  was  sold.  The  advertisements  in  the  news 
papers  were  stopped,  but  still  the  orders  continued  to  come 
in.  The  brokers  were  wired  not  to  sell  any  more  stock,  but 
that  only  sharpened  the  appetites  of  the  investors  for  more. 
The  promotion  stock  was  resorted  to,  as  some  of  the  members 
wanted  to  sell  their  stock  or  a  part  of  it  and  get  the  money 
clear  that  they  had  put  into  it.  The  price  was  advanced  to 
twenty  per  cent  above  par  to  check  the  sales;  then  to 
thirty  and  on  to  forty,  and  even  fifty  per  cent,  but  still  the 
orders  came.  Advertisements  were  inserted  in  the  papers, 
saying  that  all  the  stock  was  sold  and  that  orders  could  not 
be  filled  with  treasury  stock.  '  Nothing  but  resales  could  be 
had,  and  but  little  of  that,  but  still  the  orders  came.  The 
officers  of  the  company  did  not  want  to  sell  all  their  stock, 
but  they  did  let  a  part  of  it  go,  until  their  private  bank  ac 
counts  were  each  in  a  healthy  condition.  They  did  not  care 
to  bother  with  the  sales  any  longer,  and  to  get  the  burden 
off  their  shoulders  they  listed  the  stock  upon  the  stock  ex 
changes  and  turned  it  over  to  brokers  who  traded  in  stocks 
and  who  bought  stock  and  filled  the  orders  as  they  came  in. 

There  was  a  brokerage  company  in  San  Francisco,  called 
the  Hoboken  Brokerage  Company,  which  was  very  active  in 
handling  the  stock  of  the  development  company.  They  con 
tinued  to  insert  advertisements  in  the  papers  that  they  would 
buy  the  stock,  and  then  resold  it  at  a  handsome  profit.  One 

23 


354 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

morning  this  article  appeared  in  the  daily  papers,  through  the 
Associated  Press: 

"DEVELOPMENT  COMPANY  LIKELY  TO  FAIL. 

"The  California  Development  and  Mining  Company,  which 
was  going  to  do  great  things,  has  run  against  a  snag.  The  re 
claiming  of  the  swamp  lands  has  been  found  to  be  imprac 
ticable  and  the  building  of  the  proposed  flume  is  impossible. 
Their  stock  has  all  been  sold,  and  the  company  is  supposed  to 
be  about  ready  to  shut  up  house  for  their  vacation." 

The  price  of  the  stock  dropped  twenty-three  points  in  as 
many  minutes  when  the  stock  exchange  opened  for  business. 
The  company's  office  in  Sacramento  was  flooded  with  tele 
grams  inquiring  as  to  the  truth  of  the  report.  A  great  crowd 
gathered  around  the  office  with  clubs,  knives  and  guns  de 
manding  that  the  company  pay  them  back  their  money. 
Guards  and  officers  had  to  be  placed  about  the  office  to  pro 
tect  the  property  and  the  lives  of  the  officials  of  the  company. 

Ex-Governor  Samuels  went  out  and  tried  to  talk  to  them, 
to  assure  them  that  everything  was  all  right,  but  they  would 
not  hear  him.  They  had  seen  it  in  the  newspapers  and  it 
must  be  true.  Crowds  gathered  about  the  banks  where  the 
company's  money  was  deposited  and  threatened  to  break  in 
and  take  the  cash. 

Where  the  report  originated,  and  who  was  the  author  of 
it,  no  one  seemed  to  know.  The  officers  knew  that  it  was  a 
lie  and  had  been  put  into  the  papers  for  some  malicious  pur 
pose,  but  they  could  not  tell  who  had  done  so,  or  why.  They 
had  no  chance  to  look  it  up,  for  they  were  too  busy  trying 
to  restore  the  confidence  of  the  stockholders. 

The  busiest  place  in  all  San  Francisco  was  the  Hobokeni 
Brokerage  Company's  office.  They  carried  a  standing  ad 
vertisement  in  the  home  and  Eastern  papers  to  buy  this  stock. 
The  people  were  just  standing  in  line  on  the  street  wait 
ing  their  turn  to  get  into  that  office  and  sell  their  stock.  The 
brokerage  company  had  plenty  of  money  on  hand  and  were 
buying  all  the  stock  offered,  first  at  ninety  per  cent,  then  at 


CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 355 

eighty  per  cent,  then  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  face  value. 
People  were  glad  to  get  anything  out  of  their  stock,  and  when 
the  seventy-five  per  cent  of  their  original  investment  dropped 
into  their  pockets  they  went  away  congratulating  themselves 
upon  their  good  fortune  that  they  had  gotten  that  much  out 
of  it. 

At  last  the  word  came  to  the  development  company  of 
what  was  going  on  at  the  Hoboken  Brokerage  Company. 
Then  Samuels  understood  it  all,  and  he  posted  the  following 
notice  in  front  of  his  office: 

"A  TRICK  HAS  BEEN  PLAYED  UPON  Us. 

"The  newspaper  report  is  a  fake.  There  is  not  one  word 
of  truth  in  it.  It  is  plainly  evident  that  some  brokers  are 
taking  this  means  of  getting  you  to  sell  your  stock  at  a  loss. 
Our  work  is  going  on  successfully  at  this  moment,  and  it  is 
not  only  practical,  but  will  be  completed  as  planned,  and  in 
less  time  than  estimated.  A  certain  brokerage  firm  in  San 
Francisco  is  buying  all  the  stock  offered  at  a  cut  rate.  Don't 
sell  your  stock  to  them.  They  may  be  the  people  who  have 
done  this.  The  company  will  buy  your  stock  back  at  par  if 
this  is  not  true.  Be  patient  and  keep  your  heads.  Don't  let 
brokers  fool  you  out  of  your  stock.  That  is  their  game.  In 
vestigate  before  selling  your  stock  at  a  loss." 

(Signed)  "EDWARD  R.  SAMUELS,  President." 

The  people  would  not  believe  the  poster.  They  thought 
it  was  a  ruse  to  quiet  them.  Finally  a  committee  of  promi 
nent  citizens  was  selected  to  make  an  investigation.  A  num 
ber  of  others  thought  that  this  was  a  committee  selected  to 
mob  the  officers  of  the  company,  so  they  secured  ropes  and 
rushed  towards  the  office  of  the  development  company.  The 
guards  and  deputy  sheriffs  had  all  they  could  do,  by  using 
their  clubs  and  flashing  revolvers,  to  keep  the  mob  back. 
They  saw  that  they  would  soon  be  helpless  to  guard  the 
property  and  the  lives  of  the  officers  of  the  company,  so  a  riot 
call  was  sent  in  and  all  the  police  and  sheriffs  in  the  city  were 
sent  to  quiet  the  excited  and  almost  insane  populace.  Finally 
one  of  the  sheriffs  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  along,  forcing 


356 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

the  crowd  back.  Then  he  waved  his  hand  for  attention,  and 
said: 

"Fellow  citizens,  this  is  all  a  joke  that  some  one  has  played 
on  you  and  this  company.  There  is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  the 
newspaper  reports.  I  have  made  an  investigation  myself,  and 
the  company  is  sound  and  intact.  The  work  is  going  on  and 
will  be  completed,  as  the  Governor  stated  on  the  poster.  He 
has  offered  to  set  over  to  me  personally  money  to  buy  all  of 
your  stock  back  if  these  statements  are  not  true.  Now  I  com 
mand  you  to  go  home,  and  a  full  explanation  of  it  all  will  ap 
pear  in  the  morning  papers.  You  have  not  been  wronged, 
and  you're  not  going  to  be  if  you'll  keep  your  heads,  and  I'm 
not  going  to  allow  you  to  wrong  others.'' 

"No,  no;  we  want  our  money  now,"  went  up  from  every 
quarter. 

"You  can't  get  it  now,  and  if  you  don't  disperse  at  once 
I  will  call  a  company  of  soldiers  who  will  charge  you  with 
fixed  bayonets,"  shouted  the  sheriff,  and  he  gave  his  captains 
orders  to  push  the  crowds  back. 

While  the  investigating  committee  were  in  the  office  a 
telegram  came  for  the  Governor,  who  opened  it  and  read  it, 
and  then  handed  it  to  the  committee  to  read : 

"San  Francisco,  Cal. 
"Gov.  EDWARD  R.  SAMUELS, 

"Sacramento,  Cal. 

"Hoboken  Brokerage  Company  bought  million  dollars' 
worth  of  company  stock,  buying  all  that  is  offered.  They 
evidently  were  authors  of  fake  report  in  newspapers  and  are 
making  big  killing  as  result. 

(Signed)  "CHIEF  OF  DETECTIVES." 

While  the  committee  was  discussing  the  telegram  with 
Governor  Samuels  a  horseman  rode  up  at  full  gallop,  and  see 
ing  the  large  crowd  around  the  company  office,  he  rode  direct 
for  the  spot.  It  was  Lew  Manning,  just  come  in  from  the 
works,  and  seeing  the  shouting,  howling  mob,  he  supposed 
there  was  another  big  demand  for  stock  and  that  it  had  taken 
another  upward  advance. 


CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 357 

H'e  dismounted  quickly,  tied  his  horse,  and  rushed  up  to 
go  into  the  office,  but  was  halted  by  a  deputy  sheriff. 

"You  can't  go  in  there,  sir,"  said  the  sheriff,  who  did  not 
know  Lew. 

"Why  not?"  demanded  Lew,  with  surprise. 

"Because  I  said  so,"  snapped  the  sheriff,  giving  him  a 
shove  back  into  the  crowd  of  people.  They  saw  him  and 
knowing  that  he  was  connected  with  the  company,  made  a 
grab  for  him  and  would  have  mobbed  him  in  a  few  moments. 

"I  am  the  engineer  of  the  company  and  I  am  on  an  im 
portant  errand.  I  must  see  Governor  Samuels  at  once,"  de 
manded  Lew,  trying  to  extricate  himself  from  the  mob  which 
now  had  hold  of  him. 

The  sheriff  saw  then  that  he  was  one  of  the  company, 
and,  calling  help,  he  soon  pulled  Lew  from  the  mob  and 
passed  him  inside  the  line  to  the  office.  The  crowd  of  ex 
cited  people,  who  had  heard  him  say  he  had  an  important 
message  and  had  seen  him  go  into  the  office,  took  it  to  mean 
that  something  had  gone  seriously  wrong  out  at  the  works, 
and  were  more  convinced  than  ever  that  the  newspaper  re 
ports  were  true. 

As  Lew  hurried  towards  the  main  office  he  found  guards 
at  every  door.  "What  does  this  mean?"  he  demanded,  with 
emphasis,  but  no  one  tried  to  explain. 

"I  must  see  the  Governor  at  once,"  said  Lew,  imperiously. 

"He  is  busy  with  a  committee  in  his  private  room,  and 
you  must  wait,"  commanded  the  uniformed  guard  at  the  door. 

"Open  his  door  and  tell  him  that  the  engineer  from  the 
works  is  here  with  an  important  message,"  commanded  Lew. 

The  guard  did  as  he  was  told  and  Lew  was  ordered  to 
enter  at  once.  As  he  stepped  inside  he  said  excitedly : 

"Will  you  tell  me  what  all  this  excitement  is  about, 
Governor  ?" 

For  answer  the  Governor  handed  him  the  morning  paper, 
pointing  to  an  article  marked  with  a  blue  pencil  on  the  front 
page.  Lew  read  it  coolly  and  carefully,  then  threw  the  paper 
aside  and  said : 


358 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  see  through  it  all,  Governor.  I  understand  fully,  and 
so  will  you  when  I  tell  you  what  is  happening  along  the  right 
of  way." 

"Let's  have  it,  quick,"  replied  the  Governor,  for  he  was 
considerably  nettled. 

"We  had  just  about  completed  the  grading  on  the  first 
section  and  I  was  just  starting  the  contractor  upon  the  second 
section  when  we  were  met  by  a  bunch  of  guards  and  we  were 
driven  off  at  the  point  of  guns.  They  were  employed  and 
sent  out  there  by  a  brokerage  firm  in  San  Francisco  called  the 
Hoboken  Brokerage  Company.  They  have  slipped  in  ahead 
of  us  and  bought  up  a  section  of  land  through  which  we  must 
go  and  where  our  right  of  way  was  surveyed.  It  is  on  that 
section  of  land  where  we  were  unable  to  find  the  owners 
to  procure  the  right  of  way.  This  firm  has  evidently  bought 
the  land  and  are  demanding  a  big  bonus  for  our  crossing  it. 
I  came  in  for  instructions  as  to  what  we  can  do  about  it." 

"There  is  the  solution  of  the  whole  thing,  gentlemen,"  said 
the  Governor,  turning  to  the  committee.  "Are  you  now  satis 
fied?" 

"We  can  see  through  it  ourselves,  Governor,  and  we  are 
satisfied,"  they  replied,  and  they  turned  and  walked  out  to 
the  ever  increasing  mob  in  the  street. 

One  of  the  committee  jumped  up  on  a  box  on  the  side 
walk  and  waved  his  hand  at  the  crowd  to  get  their  attention. 
Then  he  said :  "Fellow  citizens,  it  is  all  right.  Your  money 
is  safe.  The  Hoboken  Brokerage  Company  of  San  Francisco 
has  done  this  to  try  to  break  down  the  company  and  get  your 
stock  for  little  or  nothing.  Go  home  and  be  content.  Every 
thing  is  all  right  as  before,  and  be  sure  and  don't  let  your 
stock  get  away  from  you.  It  is  good  and  the  company  is  all 
right  and  will  treat  you  right." 

The  crowd  was  satisfied  at  this  word  from  their  own  com 
mittee,  and  so  they  began  to  disperse,  after  almost  a  whole 
day  spent  in  worrying  and  howling  over  something  they  knew 
nothing  about,  and  which  was  only  a  false  alarm. 

The  Governor  sent  for  the  newspaper  reporters,  who  had 


CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 359 

heard  all  kinds  of  rumors  during  the  day  and  had  written 
columns  of  various  stories  about  it  for  the  morning  papers 
the  next  day.  He  called  them  into  his  room  and  laid  the  facts 
before  them ;  the  telegram  and  the  report  of  Lew  Manning  of 
how  the  brokerage  firm  had  blocked  the  way  by  buying  a 
tract  of  land  through  which  the  flume  must  go.  It  was  all 
given  to  the  reporters  and  they  were  asked  to  get  out  an  extra 
edition  of  the  papers  that  evening  at  the  company's  expense, 
telling  the  truth  in  the  matter.  They  did  so,  and  it  soon  had 
its  effect  upon  the  people.  Those  who  were  the  loudest  in 
their  denunciation  of  the  company  in  the  morning  were  now 
sending  in  apologies  to  them. 

As  soon  as  this  trouble  was  settled,  an  executive  session 
of  the  officers  of  the  company  was  called  to  meet  at  once. 
Only  Governor  Samuels,  George  Garner,  Jack  Winters,  Lew 
Manning  and  R.  H.  Kramer  were  there,  but  they  were  not 
long  in  getting  down  to  business. 

"What  can  we  do  about  that  right  of  way?"  asked  the 
Governor  of  Jack  Winters,  for  he  was  considerably  worried 
about  it,  taking  a  box  of  cigars  from  his  desk  and  passing 
them  around,  to  quiet  their  nerves. 

"Don't  let  that  worry  you  for  a  minute,  Governor.  That 
will  be  easy  to  settle.  You  know  a  railroad  can  go  anywhere 
and  force  their  right  of  way  under  the  law,  for  a  railroad  is 
a  public  good.  This  right  of  way  will  come  under  the  same 
law  and  we  will  force  it  through.  We'll  start  suit  at  once 
and  condemn  the  land.  Then  we'll  take  it  at  the  price  of  the 
appraisers.  Just  leave  it  to  me,  and  we  will  soon  have  that 
tangle  straightened  out." 

"But  tell  me,  Winters,  who  is  this  firm  of  brokers  that 
are  causing  us  all  this  trouble,  and  what  can  we  do  with 
them?"  asked  George  Garner. 

"I  don't  know,  gentlemen,"  said  Winters.  "I  never  heard 
of  them  until  they  went  to  selling  our  stock  a  short  time  ago. 
They  were  the  only  brokerage  company  in  the  country  that 
we  have  had  any  trouble  with.  We  couldn't  keep  our  ac 
counts  straight  with  them.  They  always  claimed  more  than 


360 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

was  coming  to  them,  and  finally  we  had  to  refuse  to  do  any 
more  business  with  them.  Then  they  went  to  advertising  for 
stock  upon  their  own  responsibility." 

"Who  are  the  men  connected  with  that  firm,  Mr. 
Winters?"  asked  the  banker. 

"I  don't  know,  Mr.  Garner.  I  never  saw  the  name  of  one 
of  the  firm  upon  any  of  their  letters.  They  always  signed 
the  firm  name,  with  a  single  initial  for  the  writer.  It  does 
seem  suspicious,  now  I  think  of  it,  but  that's  the  way  they 
did  it." 

"Well,  I  was  not  satisfied  this  morning,  for  I  suspected 
that  there  was  something  crooked  about  that  firm,  and  that 
they  were  the  guilty  ones,  so  I  sent  Edwards,  my  detective,  to 
the  city  to  investigate  and  I  have  been  looking  for  a  word 
from  him  all  afternoon.  So  far  nothing  has  come." 

"It  will  be  a  pretty  hard  matter  for  him  to  get  hold  of  any 
thing  there  today,  Mr.  Garner,  as  the  reports  say  there  is  a 
regular  stampede  there  also.  The  people  are  lined  up  in  the 
street  for  a  block  waiting  to  get  in  to  sell  the  stock  they  hold 
in  our  company." 

"Yes,  but  we  telegraphed  a  statement  to  be  posted  in 
front  of  their  office  denying  the  report  that  was  in  the  paper," 
said  the  other. 

"That  wouldn't  do  any  good,  Mr.  Garner.  We  put  one 
up  here,  also,  and  it  only  made  them  worse,"  laughed  the 
lawyer. 

"It's  no  laughing  matter,  Winters,"  said  Garner,  seriously. 
"I  thought  we  were  all  going  to  be  mobbed  for  a  while  today." 

"It  did  look  like  it,  but  now  that  it  is  all  over,  we  might 
just  as  well  laugh  at  it,  Mr.  Garner." 

While  they  were  discussing  it  a  clerk  came  to  the  door  of 
the  President's  office  and  announced,  "A  telegram  for  Mr. 
Garner."  Garner  took  it,  but  thought  nothing  of  it,  as  they 
had  been  pouring  in  all  day  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  He 
laid  it  down  on  the  table  with  a  number  of  others  that  had  not 
been  opened  yet. 

"Better  open  that  one,  Garner,"  said  the  Governor.     "It 


CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 361 

might  be  from  your  man  in  the  city."     So  he  broke  the  seal 
on  it  and  read : 

"San  Francisco,  Cal. 
"GEORGE  GARNER, 

"Sacramento,  Cal. 

"The  Hoboken  Brokerage  Company  is  none  other  than 
Robert  Harding  and  George  Brooks.  I  saw  them  both,  but 
they  are  keeping  in  the  dark  as  much  as  possible.  Have 
plenty  of  money  and  are  buying  up  all  stock  offered  at  very 
low  figures.  Will  make  a  killing  if  the  company  supports  the 
market.  Wire  instructions.  EDWARDS." 

"There  is  the  answer,  gentlemen.  That  bunch  of  crooks 
is  back  on  the  job  again,"  said  Garner,  with  an  angry  look 
on  his  face.  "I  wish  to  God  we  had  kept  them,  in  the  pen 
when  we  had  them  there." 

"They  served  their  time,  didn't  they?"  asked  Winters. 

"They  served  the  sentence  given  them,  but  their  real  time 
should  have  been  for  life,"  said  Garner,  angrily.  "I'm  afraid 
of  those  fellows." 

"Well,  I  think  we  can  make  them  finish  out  their  time 
now,"  said  the  lawyer.  He  picked  up  a  telegram  blank  and 
wrote  out  the  following  message: 

"Get  out  warrant  for  each  of  them  as  quickly  as  possible 
upon  charge  of  criminal  blackmail.  Raid  office  and  put  sheriff 
in  charge  of  it.  Lock  men  up  and  take  possession  of  all  stock 
they  have.  Keep  us  posted." 

"There,  Mr.  Garner,  read  that  and  then  get  it  off  to  your 
man  as  quick  as  the  wires  will  carry  it  there,"  said  Winters, 
handing  the  banker  the  telegram.  "That  will  put  a  quietus  on 
that  end  of  it,  but  there  is  one  other  thing  we  must  do  right 
away,"  he  continued,  scratching  his  head  as  though  trying  to 
think. 

"What  is  that?"  demanded  Garner,  in  anxiety. 

"We  must  lose  no  time  in  getting  at  the  reporters  who 
put  that  article  in  the  Associated  Press  this  morning.  We 
must  see  them  at  once  and  make  them  tell  where  they  got 
their  information.  That  is  the  missing  link  in  our  evidence. 


362 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Send  for  their  representative  to  come  here  at  once,  and  we 
will  show  him  what  evidence  we  have  on  them ;  then  try  to 
get  them  to  enlist  with  us  in  running  the  culprits  down.  If 
they  got  that  article  from  those  fellows  and  will  swear  to  it, 
we  have  them.  If  we  can  raid  their  office  and  gobble  that 
stock  before  the  market  recovers,  we  have  them  broke.  Their 
money  is  all  in  it,  and  a  lot  of  borrowed  money,  too.  We  can 
then  even  up  things  very  quickly." 

Garner  lost  no  time  in  getting  his  telegram  off  to  his  man 
in  the  city,  and  a  messenger  was  dispatched  for  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  Associated  Press.  He  came  at  once  to  the 
company  office  and  they  laid  the  evidence  all  before  him. 
When  they  told  him  the  history  of  these  two  crooks  he  at 
once  agreed  that  he  would  co-operate  with  them  to  punish 
Harding  and  Brooks.  He  sent  a  telegram  to  his  firm  in  San 
Francisco,  asking  the  origin  of  the  blackmailing  article,  and 
soon  had  an  answer  back  that  it  was  from  the  Hoboken 
Brokerage  Company,  and  that  their  check  had  paid  for  it. 

"Wire  back  and  have  them  hold  that  check  as  evidence. 
If  it  has  been  cashed,  have  the  sheriff  attach  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  bank  so  we  can  use  it  as  evidence  against  them," 
commanded  the  lawyer. 

The  wire  was  sent,  and  soon  a  reply  came  that  the  check 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  as  ordered,  and  that  the  Asso 
ciated  Press  would  co-operate  with  the  company  to  convict 
the  men. 

A  little  later  they  received  a  telegram  from  Edwards, 
stating : 

"Brooks  and  Harding  locked  up.  Raided  office  and  cap 
tured  eight  hundred  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  our  stock, 
taken  fraudulently  from  the  people.  Have  called  in  postal 
authorities  to  make  investigation  of  their  methods  and  all 
books  and  correspondence  held  by  them.  EDWARDS." 

Henry  Manning  came  driving  up  at  this  time,  his  horses 
wet  with  sweat  from  rapid  driving.  He  alighted  and  rushed 
into  the  office  at  such  a  pace  that  his  coat  tails  stood  straight 
out  behind  him  and  the  tassels  on  his  Spanish  hat  flopped  up 
and  down  with  each  step. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS 

The  expression  on  Mr.  Manning's  face  showed  plainly 
that  he  was  very  much  worried  about  something. 

"Is  Governor  Samuels  in?"  he  asked  one  of  the  secre 
taries  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  general  office. 

"He  is  in  his  office  with  the  executive  board,"  was  the 
reply. 

"Tell  him  that  Henry  Manning  is  here  with  an  important 
message." 

The  secretary  rapped  loudly  upon  the  door  and  an 
nounced  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Manning  with  an  important  mes 
sage. 

"Come  in,  Manning,"  said  the  Governor,  as  he  stepped  to 
the  door.  "I'm  glad  to  see  you.  Suppose  you  heard  of  our 
excitement  and  have  come  to  help  us  out,"  as  a  grin,  that 
was  evidently  half  put  on,  spread  over  his  face. 

"Help  you  out?  Not  much.  I  have  come  for  help,"  an 
swered  Manning,  and  the  very  expression  on  his  face  told 
them  plainly  that  there  was  more  trouble  in  store  for  the  de 
velopment  company. 

"Struck  another  bunch  of  cougars,  Manning?"  asked 
Winters,  with  a  laugh,  for  their  troubles  had  subsided  and 
they  were  trying  to  regain  their  normal  spirits. 

"Worse  than  that !"  answered  Manning. 

"What's  gone  wrong  up  your  way?"  questioned  the  Gov 
ernor,  frowning. 

Manning  pulled  a  legal  paper  from  his  pocket  which  had 
been  served  upon  him  as  a  member  of  the  corporation  and 
handed  it  to  the  Governor,  who  gave  it  a  glance  and  passed  it 
on  to  Mr  Winters,  the  company's  attorney. 

"Another  injunction,"  said  the  attorney. 

"Tell  us  about  it,  Manning.  What  is  up?"  he  demanded. 

363 


364 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Well,  to  get  down  to  facts,  there  are  about  three  dozen 
Japanese  at  the  lower  end  of  our  survey  where  our  first  flume 
will  empty  into  the  swamp  lands.  These  Japs  claim  to  be  the 
owners  of  about  five  thousand  acres  of  that  swamp  lands,  and 
have  gotten  out  this  injunction  against  our  emptying  debris 
upon  their  land.  They  have  an  attorney  with  them  and  are 
demanding  a  contract  of  us  to  pay  them  a  big  bonus  for  the 
privilege  of  dumping  our  debris  on  their  lands." 

The  attorney  laughed,  and  then  asked,  "Do  you  know 
whether  they  have  deeds  for  the  lands  or  not?" 

"Yes,  they  have  some  kind  of  deeds.  I  wasn't  attorney 
enough  to  go  into  them  and  find  out  whether  they  were  valid 
or  not,"  he  said,  seriously. 

"What  kind  of  deeds  were  they,  and  who  were  they  signed 
by?"  asked  the  attorney  in  a  cool,  businesslike  way.  The 
Governor  and  the  rest  were  very  nervous  and  excited  by  this 
time. 

"They  are  quitclaim  deeds  and  signed  by  the  Hoboken 
Brokerage  Company  of  San  Francisco.  That  firm  has  had 
an  army  of  men  out  there  for  a  long  time,  scouring  that 
country  all  over,  but  no  one  knew  what  they  were  up  to  until 
these  papers  were  served  on  us,  and  these  Japs  came  in  and 
claimed  the  land.  They  have  forbid  us  to  trespass  upon  these 
lands,  and  we  can't  even  build  a  flume  across  them." 

"Don't  let  that  worry  you,  Manning,"  said  Winters,  light 
ing  a  fresh  cigar.  "We'll  soon  have  that  thing  nipped  in  the 
bud.  We  have  had  a  'little  hell'  here  today,  all  because  of  the 
dirty  work  of  that  firm,  and  we  came  near  being  mobbed  our 
selves  by  the  people  of  this  city,"  and  he  related  the  story  to 
Mr.  Manning.  "The  men  back  of  that  brokerage  company  are 
none  other  than  George  Brooks  and  Robert  Harding,  the 
ex-convicts.  They  thought  they  would  put  us  out  of  business 
today,  and  came  very  near  doing  it.  See  that  pile  of  more 
than  two  hundred  telegrams  there  on  the  table  ?  That  is  only  a 
part  of  what  came  in  here  today.  The  whole  country  is 
aroused  by  false  stories  published  in  the  morning  papers  by  the 
Hoboken  Brokerage  Company.  There  is  a  copy  of  it  on  the 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         365 

table.  Those  fellows  evidently  intended  to  make  quite  a 
killing  today,  and  they  did  succeed  in  buying  in  at  their  own 
prices  nearly  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  our  stock.  But  we 
raided  their  office  and  captured  the  stock,  and  have  both 
Harding  and  Brooks  locked  up.  Believe  me,  if  it  is  possible, 
we  will  keep  them  there,  too !" 

Henry  Manning  listened  to  the  story  with  much  interest, 
and  as  soon  as  Winters  had  finished  he  picked  up  the  paper 
and  read  the  fake  article.  He  glanced  at  a  few  telegrams 
and  saw  that  they  were  all  asking  about  the  same  thing,  so  he 
turned  to  George  Garner  and  said: 

"Is  it  possible  that  we  are  never  going  to  get  rid  of  that 
bunch  of  crooks?  Are  they  going  to  hound  us  all  our  lives 
and  ruin  every  business  we  go  into?"  stamping  his  foot 
angrily  on  the  floor. 

"They  are  evidently  after  us  now,  but  I  am  inclined  to 
think  we  have  got  them  this  time.  They've  been  getting  the 
worst  of  it  all  along,  and  this  time  we  got  them  with  the 
goods  on,  and  we'll  certainly  stick  it  to  them  good  and  hard," 
was  the  reply. 

"Well,  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  this  injunction?  We 
aren't  dealing  with  Brooks  and  Harding,  but  with  a  bunch  of 
Japs  who  are  armed  and  intend  to  make  us  trouble,"  demanded 
Mr.  Manning,  but  the  lawyer  assured  him  that  there  was 
nothing  to  worry  about. 

"That  trouble  will  be  cleared  up  without  much  effort  on 
our  part,"  he  said.  "You  see,  the  Governor  has  been  busy 
along  that  line,  and  has  just  gotten  his  bill  through  the  Legis 
lature.  It  was  signed  by  the  Governor,  and  will  soon  go  into 
effect  as  a  law." 

"That's  good,  but  on  what  basis  is  that  law  drawn,  Mr. 
Winters?"  asked  Manning,  wondering  if  it  would  cover  this 
case. 

"It  condemns  the  swamp  lands  as  a  nuisance,  a  breeder  of 
reptiles  and  disease,  and  makes  it  compulsory  to  have  it  filled 
whenever  the  company  is  ready  to  fill  it.  The  present  owners 
must  pay  for  the  filling,  or  if  they  refuse  to  do  so,  it  can  be 


366 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

taxed  against  the  land.  Also  the  company  has  the  first  option 
upon  it  for  buying  it  if  the  fill  is  not  paid  for  by  a  certain 
length  of  time.  It  can  be  condemned  by  the  process  of  the  law 
and  taken  at  the  appraiser's  prices  if  the  owners  refuse  to  allow 
it  filled,"  was  his  prompt  reply. 

"That  sounds  better,"  replied  Manning,  greatly  relieved. 

"Yes,  those  fellows  were  busy  buying  up  land  and  making 
money  off  those  Japs,"  said  Winters,  "but  luckily  we  were 
busy  in  the  Legislature,  which  point  they  evidently  over 
looked.  They  were  without  influence  to  get  anything  through 
if  they  tried,  though.  We  won't  scrap  with  those  Japs,  but 
go  right  ahead  with  our  work,  and  when  we  are  ready  for 
the  lands  we  will  condemn  what  we  want  and  take  them. 
That  will  force  the  rest  to  allow  us  to  fill  theirs.  In  the  mean 
time,  we'll  let  them  think  they  are  doing  something  smart  and 
when  the  law  goes  into  full  force  we  will  get  copies  of  it  and 
present  them  to  the  real  owners  of  the  land.  I  think  we  can 
get  them  to  see  it  our  way  without  trouble,  but  if  it  is  neces 
sary  we  will  resort  to  the  law.  It  is  my  opinion  that  those 
deeds  are  worthless  shams,  worked  off  on  those  Japs." 

"That  is  not  all  they  have  done,  father,"  said  Lew,  who 
had  been  very  quiet  up  to  this  time.  "That  brokerage  firm 
has  bought  that  strip  of  land  along  our  right  of  way,  which 
we  could  not  find  the  owners  of,  and  have  placed  men  there 
to  keep  us  from  crossing  it." 

"It  is  just  possible,  Lew,  that  they  have  really  bought  it," 
said  Winters,  doubtfully.  "We'll  have  a  look  into  their  title.  I'll 
bet  they  have  no  title  to  it,  but  that  the  deeds  are  fakes  and 
that  those  fellows  intended  to  get  a  bonus  out  of  us,  make  a 
cleanup  on  the  stock  deal  and  then  clear  the  country.  We  have 
caught  them  on  the  stock,  and  I  will  get  busy  at  once  on  these 
titles.  We  will  soon  see  if  they  have  any  rights  to  those 
lands,  and  if  not  we  will  have  double  action  against  them." 

Turning  to  a  secretary,  he  continued,  "Call  in  the  re 
porters  for  the  newspaper  again  as  quickly  as  possible.  We 
must  get  some  more  facts  in  this  'extra'." 

A  telephone  call  was  sent  to  the  newspaper  office  and  the 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         367 

reporters  were  sent  out  immediately.  They  were  shown  all 
of  the  late  developments  in  the  actions  of  the  two  ex-convicts 
and  their  brokerage  company ;  how  they  had  bought  the  tract 
of  land  on  the  right  of  way  and  driven  the  company  men 
off;  how  they  had  given  the  Japanese  deeds  for  the  swamp 
lands  and  sent  a  lawyer  with  them  to  exact  a  heavy  bonus 
from  the  company  for  the  privilege  of  filling  the  lands,  etc. 

The  telegrams  were  also  shown  them  telling  of  the  arrest 
of  the  two  crooks  and  their  office  force,  and  how  they  had 
already  bought  in  the  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol 
lars'  worth  of  stock  at  cut  rates;  how  it  had  been  seized  and 
was  now  held  by  the  company's  officers  for  the  stockholders 
from  whom  it  had  been  wrongfully  taken.  They  were  told 
that  the  development  company  would  start  suit  for  damages 
done  them  by  the  false  reports  put  in  the  papers,  and  that 
the  stock  or  cash  represented  by  the  brokerage  company 
would  be  attached  and  held  for  payment  of  the  damages. 
From  this  "damage  money"  they  would  reimburse  every  stock 
holder  who  had  been  wronged  by  the  publication  of  said 
reports. 

The  reporters  were  also  advised  that  these  two  fellows 
were  ex-convicts  who  had  served  time  for  stealing  gold  from 
the  mines  and  that  they  had  been  engaged  in  selling  fake 
stock  before.  They  had  made  a  big  cleanup  that  way,  and 
then  they  had  started  in  the  brokerage  business  and  were 
profiting  by  deceiving  people  again.  Now  they  were  caught 

and  would  be  punished  to  the  full  extent  of  the  law. 

*          ********          * 

Jack  Winters  found  that  these  legal  tangles  were  making 
too  much  work  for  him  alone,  so  two  of  the  best  attorneys 
were  employed  to  assist  in  the  company's  affairs,  and  to  aid 
in  prosecuting  these  criminals. 

As  soon  as  the  county  records  were  examined  by  the  at 
torneys,  it  was  learned  that  the  deeds  the  Hoboken  Broker 
age  Company  was  giving  were  not  regular,  being  signed 
simply  by  the  Hoboken  Brokerage  Company,  while  the  mem 
bers  of  the  firm  had  not  signed  their  names  at  all.  Then  they 


368 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

were  just  quitclaim  deeds,  conveying  any  rights  or  title 
they  had  in  them,  and  they  had  none  to  convey,  so  were 
worthless.  A  simple  ruling  of  the  courts  was  all  that  would 
be  required  to  throw  them  out. 

It  was  also  decided  by  the  California  Development  and 
Mining  Company  to  start  condemnation  proceedings  against 
all  of  these  lands  in  question,  and  secure  the  title  to  them  by 
condemnation  and  appraisal  for  the  company's  use.  It  was 
evident  that  the  trickery  played  on  the  company  would  assist 
in  these  cases,  as  sympathy  was  now  running  high  for  the 
company.  The  work  that  the  company  proposed  to  do  was 
just  what  the  people  wanted  and  was  praised  by  every  one. 
When  the  papers  came  out  with  the  fake  article  in  it,  it  was 
like  a  thunderbolt  out  of  a  clear  sky.  Without  investigating, 
they  became  excited,  believing  they  had  been  imposed  upon, 
and  were  ready  in  a  moment  to  wreak  vengeance  upon  the 
perpetrators  of  the  supposed  fraud.  They  believed  the  article 
must  be  true  or  it  would  not  have  been  in  the  papers. 

Now  that  the  truth  was  known  and  it  was  learned  that 
the  company  was  all  right,  that  it  meant  business  and  was 
going  right  ahead  with  the  work,  they  were  satisfied  once 
more.  The  company  insisted  upon  the  citizens  sending  a  com 
mittee  out  over  the  line  to  see  what  work  was  going  on  and 
to  satisfy  themselves  on  every  point.  They  were  perfectly 
satisfied  as  it  was,  but  the  company  insisted  upon  it.  They 
wanted  the  committee  to  publish  their  findings  in  the  papers, 
to  give  the  company  standing  again  in  the  financial  world. 
And  the  committee  did  so,  with  great  effect. 

The  people  were  also  warned  not  to  believe  any  reports 
that  might  get  into  the  papers,  for  there  were  probably  other 
brokers  who  would  try  the  same  trick  for  the  purpose  of  bull 
ing  the  market  for  personal  gain.  Every  stockholder  was 
advised  to  hold  his  stock,  regardless  of  newspaper  reports, 
until  he  was  sure  that  things  had  gone  wrong. 

It  took  much  writing  and  telegraphing  over  the  country 
to  get  this  tangle  and  false  report  straightened  out  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  They  finally  put  an  article  into  the  Asso- 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         369 

ciated  Press,  where  the  fake  article  had  first  appeared,  and 
when  this  was  accomplished  the  company  once  more  got  down 
to  business  with  everything  moving  on  as  usual.  The  stock 
market  rallied  and  soon  reached  its  former  high  figures. 

A  deputy  sheriff  was  sent  down  to  the  right  of  way  to 
warn  the  people  who  were  there  that  the  Hoboken  Brokerage 
Company  was  out  of  existence  and  the  men  in  jail,  so  they  left 
without  further  trouble.  But  the  Japs  had  been  deceived  and 
beat  out  of  their  money,  and  they  refused  to  leave,  believing 
they  were  in  the  right.  This  caused  the  company  much 
trouble,  for  the  Japs  did  not  understand  English  nor  business 
methods.  They  could  not  understand  why  the  lands  did  not 
belong  to  them  when  they  had  bought  and  paid  for  them  and 
had  the  deeds.  It  was  hard  to  get  them  to  understand  that 
the  brokerage  company  never  had  owned  the  lands  in  the 
first  place,  and  had  no  right  to  deed  them,  and  that  the  deeds 
were  not  regular  and  were  worthless. 

The  Japs  proposed  to  fight  for  the  lands.  They  had  with 
them  a  non-responsible  attorney,  who  was  sent  with  them  by 
the  brokerage  company  to  advise  them.  This  attorney  had 
nothing  at  stake  and  cared  nothing  for  the  Japs  or  their  wel 
fare,  just  so  he  could  continue  to  draw  his  big  fees  from 
them  for  his  services.  Thus  he  urged  them  on,  making  them 
think  that  they  would  win  by  and  by.  The  Hoboken  Broker 
age  Company  had  planned  to  make  the  cleanup  in  stock  sales 
before  the  Japs  really  learned  the  truth  about  their  deeds, 
and  by  that  time  Brooks  and  Harding  would  be  gone  with 
the  money  they  expected  to  make  from  the  sale  of  stock. 
However,  their  plans  had  failed. 

Jack  Winters  went  before  the  courts,  presented  the  facts 
which  had  developed  in  the  past  day  or  two,  and  was  able 
to  get  the  injunction  dissolved  affecting  the  company's  work. 
He  also  started  the  condemnation  proceeding  to  take  the  land 
in  question  by  law,  and  in  this  way  got  permission  to  go  on 
with  the  work.  Lew  went  back  to  his  work  with  an  order 
from  the  court  and  allowed  no  one  to  further  hinder  his  prog 
ress,  but  he  found  himself  well  snowed  under  with  work. 

24 


370 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

The  old  surveyor,  Abraham  Roe,  though  aged  and  feeble,  was 
still  able  to  be  on  the  job  and  give  valuable  counsel  and  to 
assist  Lew  in  many  ways. 

A  number  of  engineers  were  working  under  Lew's  direc 
tions  and  they  were  all  busy.  The  river  channels  were  to 
be  used  in  the  mountain  sections  to  convey  the  debris,  but 
the  artificial  channels  were  begun  where  the  rivers  left  the 
hills  for  the  valley.  By  building  a  large  dam  with  gates  at 
the  intake  of  the  flume,  the  water  and  debris  were  to  be  con 
trolled.  From  this  point  the  grading  was  started  for  the  arti 
ficial  channel.  An  easy  grade  was  found  to  take  the  water 
from  the  river  bed  and  convey  it  to  the  top  of  the  valley 
lands,  and  from  there  on  few  difficulties  would  be  encoun 
tered.  In  some  places  the  grade  would  have  to  be  lowered 
and  in  other  places  filled  to  maintain  an  even  descent. 

The  channel  was  to  be  constructed  so  as  to  carry  twenty 
thousand  miner's  inches  of  water.  The  survey  was  made,  the 
grade  stakes  set,  and  the  amount  of  dirt  estimated  which  was 
to  be  removed  or  filled  in.  This  work  was  let  by  contract  per 
mile.  Hundreds  of  men  and  teams  were  now  at  work  in  their 
respective  lines.  Bids  were  advertised  for  and  various  con 
tractors  were  on  hand  to  bid  on  the  different  sections  of  work. 
The  lumber  was  in  cutting  at  the  saw-mill,  while  the  cement 
plant  was  in  the  course  of  construction. 

All  of  these  things  required  time  and  lots  of  it.  Many 
details  had  to  be  worked  out  which  had  never  come  into  the 
mind  of  young  Manning  when  he  was  planning  the  work 
originally.  He  had  just  begun  to  realize  that  this  was  the 
most  gigantic  undertaking  of  the  age  and  next  in  enormity 
to  the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal,  which  the  French  had 
begun  but  lacked  competent  engineers  and  the  necessary  gen 
erals  to  put  it  through. 

Thus  their  work  was  seemingly  at  a  standstill,  while  the 
details  were  being  worked  out  and  the  people  began  to  fear 
that  this  reclamation  problem  was  going  to  be  too  great  an 
undertaking  for  young  Manning  and  his  associates. 

But  Lew  kept  in  touch  with  every  line  of  this  great  work 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         371 

and  was  determined  that  they  should  know  that  his  plan  was 
not  only  practical,  but  that  he  was  equal  to  the  task  and 
would  carry  it  through  to  success.  The  lesson  they  had  just 
received  from  the  obstacles  placed  in  their  way  by  Brooks 
and  Harding  was  a  new  pointer  to  him:.  He  had  done  so 
much  other  work  that  he  had  taken  it  for  granted  that  every 
one  would  want  to  use  the  flume  and  he  had  been  slow  in 
getting  the  miners  signed  up  for  the  use  of  it.  This  experi 
ence  had  taught  him  differently  and,  fearing  there  might  be 
other  men  at  liberty  like  Brooks  and  Harding,  he  decided  that 
now  was  the  time  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  company, 
and  he  called  a  meeting  of  the  mining  men  as  follows: 

"MINING  MEN  TAKE  NOTICE 

"All  owners  or  leasers  of  gravel  or  hydraulic  mines,  and 
especially  those  who  are  contemplating  the  use  of  the  Cali 
fornia  Development  and  Mining  Company's  water  way  for 
the  disposition  of  their  debris,  are  requested  to  meet  at  the 
company  office  in  Sacramento,  July  17th,  at  10  o'clock  A.  M., 
for  the  purpose  of  arranging  time  and  fixing  rates  for  the 
handling  of  their  work.  All  contracts  must  be  signed  and 
turned  in  at  once.  Kindly  bring  figures  of  the  amount  of 
gravel  previously  piped  away,  and  what  it  made,  and  an 
estimate  of  the  yardage  yet  in  place  which  you  expect  to  pipe, 
with  the  estimated  values  therein.  Those  signing  up  now  will 
have  preference  in  turn  and  work.  Every  one  interested 
should  be  in  attendance, '  as  some  very  interesting  topics  will 
be  discussed. 

(Signed)  "EDWARD  R.  SAMUELS,  President. 

"LEW  MANNING,  Managing  Engineer." 

The  above  notice  was  published  in  all  the  papers  and  let 
ters  were  sent  out  to  every  miner  whose  address  was  known. 
When  the  day  came  for  the  convention,  Lew  was  on  hand 
with  all  the  other  officers.  The  contracts  had  all  been  pre 
pared  in  advance  and  were  ready  for  filling  out  and  sign 
ing  as  soon  as  the  mining  men  should  come  in.  Every  officer 
was  instructed  as  to  his  duty  and  what  to  place  in  the  con 
tract,  but  before  signing  they  were  all  to  be  examined  by  the 


373 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

attorney  to  see  that  nothing  out  of  the  usual  printed  form  was 
placed  in  them. 

The  mining  men  came  early,  ready  for  any  information 
that  might  be  of  use  to  them,  but  they  were  soon  made  aware 
of  the  fact  that  the  office  of  the  company  could  not  accommo 
date  the  large  crowd.  A  theater  hall  was  rented  and  quickly 
filled  with  both  mining  men  and  those  interested,  for  it  was 
the  general  topic  of  the  day,  nearly  every  one  being  inter 
ested  in  some  way,  either  in  the  mines  or  the  land  to  be  re 
claimed.  Governor  Samuels  assumed  the  duties  of  presiding 
officer  and  called  the  convention  to  order.  In  his  opening  re 
marks  he  stated: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  mining  and  reclamation  industries:  It 
gives  me  great  pleasure  to  welcome  you  here  today.  We  are 
all  interested  in  this  great  enterprise  one  way  or  another. 
You  each  want  to  better  your  conditions  and  make  money 
out  of  it  and,  while  the  company  is  in  this  business  for  a 
pecuniary  benefit,  yet  its  plans  are  not  selfish  by  any  means, 
and  we  aren't  going  to  impose  a  single  hardship  on  you  gen 
tlemen  that  we  can  help.  We  are  going  to  provide  you  with 
the  means  of  working  your  mines  and  extracting  the  fortunes 
that  you  have  stored  up  in  them  and  cannot  get  as  it  is.  We 
are  trying  to  help  you,  but  to  do  that  we  must  have  your  co 
operation.  We  are  going  to  a  tremendous  expense,  and  it 
is  no  more  than  right  that  we  know  just  what  we  have  before 
us  and  what  we  can  depend  upon.  Recent  experiences  have 
taught  us  that  we  must  have  it  in  writing,  under  signature. 
Now  we  have  the  contracts  all  printed  and,  in  order  to  save 
time,  I  will  read  you  one.  They  will  be  filled  in  duplicate 
and  you  will  keep  one  copy  and  we  will  keep  one.  We  aren't 
going  to  ask  one  dollar  from  you  in  advance.  We'll  take  our 
fee  when  we  have  done  the  sluicing,  which  will  be  exactly 
ten  per  cent  of  the  gross  cleanup  from  each  mine,  and  payable 
as  each  cleanup  is  made.  We  reserve  the  right  to  have  a  man 
on  the  ground  when  you  make  your  cleanups  and  the  con 
tracts  provide  that  we  are  to  have  two  days'  notice  in  order 
to  get  a  man  there  for  each  cleanup.  Now,  gentlemen,  is  this 
clear  to  you?" 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS        373 

"Mr*  Chairman,"  rang  out  from  a  dozen  men  in  the  aucli- 
all  at  once,  each  clamoring  for  recognition.  The  chair 
man  waited  a  moment  for  quiet  and  then  brought  down  his 
gavel  for  order.  "Order,  gentlemen.  I  can't  hear  you  all  at 
once.  Let  one  speak  at  a  time,"  and  he  nodded  to  a  man 
near  him  and  said,  "I  can't  hear  but  one  at  a  time,  so  as  this 
man  is  the  nearest  I  will  give  him  the  floor." 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  want  to  ask,"  he  said,  "why  these  con 
tracts  are  so  different  from  the  ones  we  signed  a  couple  of 
weeks  ago?" 

"I  didn't  know  you  had  signed  any?"  said  the  Governor 
in  astonishment,  and  the  perspiration  began  to  come  out  "all 
over  his  face. 

"Well,  we  did,  and  your  man  got  them  two  weeks  ago," 
said  the  miner,  puzzled  about  it  himself. 

"You  must  surely  be  mistaken  about  that,  for  we  have 
never  gotten  out  any  contracts  before,"  said  the  Governor. 

"No,  we're  not.  Your  man  was  up  our  way  two  weeks 
ago  and  we  all  signed  up  with  him  and  paid  him  the  ad 
vance  fee,"  he  said,  somewhat  sarcastically. 

"That  is  right."  "He  is  right,"  called  out  a  dozen  voices 
at  once. 

"Gentlemen,  I  tell  you  that  this  company  has  not  received 
a  single  contract  from  any  one.  If  you  have  given  contracts 
some  one  else  got  them  besides  this  company." 

"Now,  don't  try  to  fool  us.  Your  man  was  around  and 
got  the  contracts  signed.  He  collected  the  fee  and  took  them 
away,"  said  the  miner  with  some  feeling. 

"Well,  you've  got  me  guessing.  I  know  of  no  contracts 
being  signed  so  far.  This  office  has  never  ordered  them  and 
none  has  been  returned  to  us.  Besides,  we  do  not  require 
an  advance  fee,  and  never  thought  of  such  a  thing,"  replied 
the  Governor,  with  some  heat,  for  he  saw  that  another  trick 
had  been  played  upon  the  company  somewhere. 

"This  company  is  a  set  of  thieves  and  it  is  time  for  us 
to  expose  them,"  said  the  miner,  who  had  been  speaking,  turn 
ing  to  the  audience. 


374 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"That  is  right,"  sang  out  several  voices  at  once.  At  this 
the  Governor  brought  his  gavel  down  on  the  desk,  fearing  it 
would  turn  into  another  howling,  vicious  mob  as  before,  and 
he  wanted  to  nip  it  in  the  bud.  It  had  gone  rather  far,  and 
some  of  the  more  ignorant  were  not  inclined  to  quiet  down. 
The  refined  and  level  headed  mine  owners,  though,  began 
to  see  that  something  was  wrong,  and  they  wanted  to  go  to 
the  bottom  of  it,  so  they  told  the  miner  to  sit  down  and  let 
the  Governor  speak. 

"Now,  men,"  said  the  Governor,  when  he  could  be  heard, 
"don't  any  of  you  lose  your  heads.  We  are  all  gentlemen 
here,  I  trust,  and  I  see  that  something  is  wrong,  but  we  will 
go  to  the  bottom  of  it  and  see  who  is  at  fault." 

"We  want  our  contracts  back.  We  won't  have  anything 
more  to  do  with  you,"  demanded  one  of  the  infuriated  miners. 

"Be  quiet.  Give  me  a  chance  here.  Everybody  is  going 
to  get  a  square  deal.  We  have  been  imposed  upon  by  some 
fake  brokers  about  the  swamp  lands,  and  it  begins  to  look  to 
me  as  though  we,  or  you,  had  been  imposed  upon  in  the 
mining  districts,  too.  Now,  let  me  ask  how  many  of  you 
have  signed  up  contracts,  hold  up  your  hands? 

"Oh,  my  heavens !"  exclaimed  the  Governor  in  despair. 
"Half  of  you."  Then  he  asked,  "Have  any  of  you  a  copy  of 
the  contract  you  signed?" 

"No,  sir,  the  agent  said  a  copy  would  be  mailed  from  this 
office,"  was  the  general  reply. 

"Do  you  know  who  the  man  was  that  got  the  contracts?" 
he  continued. 

"All  that  we  know  is  that  he  said  his  name  was  Williams, 
and  that  he  was  from  this  office  here  in  Sacramento,"  one 
man  replied. 

All  this  time  Lew  had  sat  there  with  his  mouth  open,  won 
dering  what  would  come  next,  and  too  puzzled  to  say  a  word. 

"Well,  what  were  the  conditions  in  those  contracts?  Can 
anyone  tell?"  asked  the  Governor. 

A  cool-headed,  businesslike  miner  arose  and  explained : 

"First,  there  was  a  membership  fee  of  one  hundred  dol- 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         375 

lars,  and  all  who  wanted  to  belong  to  the  association  had 
to  pay  that  fee  in  advance.  Then  we  fixed  a  price  which  we 
would  take  for  the  mine,  and  this  man  Williams  was  to  have 
the  first  refusal  of  it  for  the  company.  The  members  of  this 
association  were  only  to  pay  five  per  cent  for  the  use  of  the 
flumes  to  handle  their  debris,  while  all  the  others  had  to  pay 
ten  per  cent." 

"Do  any  of  you  know  where  this  man  Williams  can  be 
found?"  asked  the  Governor,  with  concern.  "Has  he  been 
seen  during  the  last  week?" 

"No,  sir,"  continued  the  cool-headed  miner.  "He  was 
up  at  our  place  and  had  just  gotten  my  contract  when  a  horse 
man  appeared,  and  from  the  looks  of  his  horse  he  had  been 
riding  very  fast,  for  it  was  all  played  out.  He  took  this 
man  Williams  off  to  one  side  and  they  talked  together  for 
a  few  minutes  very  earnestly.  Then  he  mounted  his  horse 
again  and  Mr.  Williams  took  his  horse  and  went  with  him. 
He  said  that  there  was  some  very  important  business  at  the 
office  and  that  he  must  go  in,  but  would  be  back  in  a  few 
days.  We  never  saw  him  again,  though." 

"Gentlemen,  I  am  of  the  opinion,"  said  the  Governor,  "that 
that  fellow  was  sent  out  from  San  Francisco  by  the  Hoboken 
Brokerage  Company.  It  was  about  that  time  that  those  peo 
ple  sent  a  bunch  of  Japanese  to  drive  us  off  the  swamp  lands 
and  tried  to  stop  us  from  building  our  waterways.  They 
even  sent  fellows  up  there  who  had  fake  deeds  to  a  portion 
of  the  land  through  which  we  had  to  build  our  ditch,  and  they 
refused  to  let  us  cross  unless  we  paid  a  very  heavy  bonus. 
Then  they  published  fake  stories  about  our  work  and  got 
the  stockholders  all  excited  and  drove  the  stock  down  in  price. 
Then  they  bought  up  nearly  a  million  dollars  worth  of  stock 
at  cut  rates,"  went  on  the  chairman,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
miners. 

"We  were  able  to  trace  it  all  to  their  door,  and  the  de 
tectives  caught  them  red-handed.  They  are  now  in  the 
county  jail  at  San  Francisco.  They  proved  to  be  two  ex- 
convicts,  whom  many  of  you  mining  men  know,  as  they  were 


376 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

caught  at  Dutch  Flat  stealing  gold  and  were  sent  up  for  it. 
Their  names  are  George  Brooks  and  Robert  Harding,  and  I 
suppose  that  this  man  Williams  who  has  beat  you  was  one 
of  their  paid  agents.  He  may  be  far  away  from  here  by  this 
time,  but  all  the  harm  he  has  done  you  was  to  beat  you  out 
of  your  hundred  dollars.  That  is  all  they  wanted,  and  they 
got  it.  The  contracts  are  worthless,  as  they  were  gotten  by 
fraud  and  the  court  will  set  them  aside  if  they  bob  up." 

"Did  you  catch  Williams,  too?"  asked  one  man,  as  the 
Governor  paused. 

"I  don't  know,  but  I  rather  doubt  it,  from  what  you  say. 
We  got  all  the  office  force,  but  all  except  Brooks  and  Hard 
ing  are  out  on  bail.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  when  the 
horseman  came  and  warned  Williams,  if  that  is  his  name,  he 
made  good  his  getaway  with  the  money  you  had  paid  him. 
That  was  probably  the  day  we  raided  the  office  of  the  broker 
age  company,  and  the  man  who  came  to  warn  him  was  evi 
dently  from  down  on  the  right  of  way.  They  have  all  disap 
peared  except  the  Japs,  and  they  don't  know  they  are  duped. 
You  men  can  see  plainly  that  you  have  been  beaten  by  that 
set  of  fakes  who  beat  us  also. 

"Now,  let  me  warn  you,"  continued  the  Governor.  "Here 
after  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  stranger  who  may  come 
to  you  claiming  to  represent  this  company,  unless  he  has  a 
written  credential  with  my  signature  upon  it  and  the  seal 
of  this  corporation. 

"It  is  different,  of  course,  with  Lew  Manning,  the  com 
pany  engineer,  here.  You  all  know  him  and  know  that  he 
is  in  charge  of  the  work  and  carries  authority  with  him  and 
his  word  goes.  Remember,  I  said  strangers.  If  you  take 
up  with  them,  you  are  likely  to  pay  dearly  for  your  dealings 
as  you  have  in  this  case." 

"Do  you  think  there  is  any  chance  of  catching  Williams 
and  getting  our  money  back?"  asked  one  of  the  miners,  who 
was  very  much  wrought  up  over  his  loss. 

"I  don't  know,  but  I  think  he  has  made  his  getaway  be 
fore  this.  We  will  work  with  you  and  try  to  run  him  down. 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         377 

You  know  him  and  I  don't,  so  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  him. 
We'll  put  a  detective  out  and  see  if  we  can  catch  him,  too," 
replied  the  Governor. 

"Mr.  Chairman,"  said  Lew  Manning,  arising  slowly. 
"This  is  a  shame  and  an  outrage,  but  it  has  happened  and 
can't  be  helped.  We  are  losing  a  lot  of  valuable  time  that 
we  must  improve  if  we  finish  today.  I  suggest  that  we  cir 
culate  these  blank  contracts  and  let  every  man  read  it  over. 
Then  let  him  fill  in  the  legal  numbers  of  his  land  and  the 
notary  public  here  at  this  end  of  the  table  will  take  acknowl 
edgment  of  his  signature.  The  other  contracts  are  worthess 
and  we  will  defend  these  men  if  they  come  up.  We  must 
have  these  contracts  all  signed  here  today.  There  is  no  fake 
about  this  deal,  for  everyone  here  sees  and  knows  just  what 
he  is  doing  and  who  he  is  dealing  with.  They  will  all  be 
treated  alike." 

"That  is  a  good  suggestion  and  I  will  ask  the  clerks  to 
pass  out  the  contracts,  giving  each  man  one.  Let  each  man 
take  it  to  the  clerk's  desk,  where  it  will  be  filled  out  in  dupli 
cate,  then  passed  to  the  attorney  at  the  next  desk  and  then 
on  to  the  notary  public,  where  they  will  be  signed,"  said  the 
Governor,  delighted  to  have  all  the  vexing  questions  settled, 
and  to  get  down  to  business. 

"I  would  suggest,  also,"  continued  the  engineer,  "that 
every  one  of  these  men  who  have  their  figures  ready  upon  the 
yardage,  etc.,  turn  them  in,  too,  for  I  want  to  check  them 
up  with  my  figures.  I  helped  to  survey  those  gravel  beds  and 
I  want  to  see  how  near  right  I  am." 

The  contracts  were  circulated,  and  the  mining  men  gath 
ered  in  groups  here  and  there,  whispering  and  talking  low 
among  themselves.  It  soon  became  evident  that  some  of  the 
men  who  had  signed  the  fake  contracts  and  paid  out  their 
hundred  dollars  were  not  satisfied.  The  more  level  headed 
fellows  were  willing  to  charge  it  up  to  profit  and  loss  and 
go  on  with  the  work. 

Some  of  the  more  pessimistic  fellows  were  not  so  easily 
satisfied.  They  were  not  ready  to  believe  all  that  had  been 


378 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

said.  They  were  not  so  sure  that  this  man  Williams  was  not 
in  cahoots  with  the  company,  and  they  did  not  intend  to  be 
satisfied  until  they  had  gone  into  it  more  carefully. 

Presently  one  of  the  men  got  up  and  called  out : 

"Feller  miners :  Some  of  us  fellers  don't  think  we'd  be 
quite  satisfied  wid  de  splenation  dat  de  Guvner  jist  made  and 
we  wants  all  who  hain't  content  to  meet  wid  me  outside  fur 
a  minnit." 

Quite  a  number  gave  expression  to  their  feelings  in  a 
laugh  for  the  first  time.  At  this  the  Governor  brought  his 
gavel  down  on  the  table  and  motioned  for  quiet.  Then  he 
said: 

"The  gentleman  from  the  backwoods  in  the  hills  is  not 
quite  satisfied  with  my  explanation  of  the  conditions  and  he 
wants  all  the  others  who  feel  likewise  to  meet  him  outside 
to  help  him  put  up  the  bars  or  lay  his  wires,  and  if  there  be 
any  such  please  do  not  keep  him  waiting,  but  go  to  his  meet 
ing  outside  at  once." 

Everybody  gave  a  big  roar  of  laughter  and  as  soon  as 
quiet  was  restored  someone  shouted  out : 

"He's  from  Missouri." 

That  settled  it.  His  conference  failed.  No  one  wanted  to 
have  the  laugh  turned  on  him,  and  so  no  one  went  but  the 
lone  man.  He  did  not  stay  long,  but  refused  to  fill  out  or 
sign  his  contract.  He  tried  to  throw  cold  water  on  every  part 
of  the  business  to  keep  others  from  signing  up.  Finally  some 
one  became  disgusted  with  him  and  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  suggest  that  the  fellow  from  the  tall 
timber  be  instructed  to  hold  his  contract  until  the  next  faker 
comes  along  and  then  give  it  to  him." 

Again  everybody  laughed,  but  by  this  time  most  of  them 
were  lined  up  at  the  clerk's  desk,  getting  their  contracts  filled 
out  and  readily  signing  them.  True,  some  of  them  had  been 
defrauded,  but  it  was  nobody's  fault  but  their  own  for  not 
investigating.  When  they  found  it  out,  they  just  considered 
that  they  had  been  too  hasty  and  dealt  with  the  wrong  man. 
They  knew  that  they  would  profit  by  the  experience  and,  now 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         379 

that  they  had  seen  their  mistake  and  were  in  touch  with  the 
right  people,  they  knew  that  the  company  was  doing  its  best 
to  give  them  a  chance  to  work  their  mines  upon  an  honest 
basis,  and  they  were  ready  to  co-operate  with  them. 

There  are  always  some  who  are  not  so  cheerful,  and  who 
always  look  on  the  dark  side  of  things.  They  will  question 
every  good  work  and  word,  but  are  sure  to  take  up  with  the 
first  fraud  that  comes  along.  When  they  find  they  have  been 
"bit"  they  condemn  every  good  work  and  business  that  they 
hear  of  thereafter,  until  another  smooth  faker  comes  along, 
and  then  he  finds  them  an  easy  mark  again.  It  is  well  to  steer 
clear  of  the  man  who  always  sees  something  wrong  with  the 
other  fellow.  You  can  mark  it  down  that  nine  times  out  of 
ten  he  is  not  quite  right  himself,  or  his  mind  would  not  be 
running  in  that  channel.  It  is  well  enough  for  one  to  be  on 
his  guard,  but  do  so  with  due  consideration  and  good  sense. 
Judge  only  by  the  merits  and  look  well  into  anything  and  at 
the  credentials  of  the  men  who  are  backing  it. 

The  convention  was  adjourned  until  after  the  noon  hour, 
during  which  time  all  the  contracts  were  to  be  signed.  Then 
they  would  meet  for  reports  and  plans  for  the  new  work 
which  was  to  be  given  by  the  engineer. 

As  soon  as  the  convention  was  called  to  order  for  the 
afternoon  session,  Lew  Manning  was  called  to  the  platform, 
and  he  made  the  following  report  upon  the  work  as  outlined, 
which  was  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  mining  men  and 
all  others  who  were  interested  in  the  success  of  the  great 
undertaking. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  convention :  I  am  not  able  to  make  you 
a  flowery  speech,  but  so  far  as  facts  and  figures  about  the 
one  proposition  in  which  we  are  all  interested  and  which  we 
all  want  to  see  made  a  success  is  concerned,  I  can  supply 
you  with  any  information  that  you  may  desire.  I  have  made 
it  a  constant  study  now  for  the  past  five  years,  and  a  man 
ought  to  learn  something  about  it  in  that  length  of  time.  You 
are  here  for  information  and  it  is  my  intention  to  give  you 
an  outline  of  our  plans  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  you  that 
we  are  doing  the  right  thing  by  you. 


380 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Our  plan  is  to  use  the  regular  river  channels  to  the  foot 
hills,  or  to  the  places  where  we  can  conveniently  take  the 
water  out  of  the  river  beds  and  convey  it  into  our  aqueduct. 
At  this  point  we  will  construct  a  dam  with  gates  adapted  to 
our  needs.  At  times  of  flood  waters  we  will  open  the  gates 
and  let  the  water  go  on  down  the  regular  channels.  When 
we  are  sluicing  we  will  close  the  gates  and  turn  the  water 
into  the  aqueduct.  This  will  carry  the  debris  to  the  lower 
lands  where  it  is  needed. 

"We  have  made  the  surveys  where  we  wish  to  build  the 
aqueducts.  On  one  of  the  lines  we  have  the  grade  stakes 
all  set  and  the  grading  is  going  forward  as  rapidly  as  pos 
sible.  We  have  secured  most  of  the  right  of  way,  except  for 
a  few  cases  where  we  have  been  blocked  for  a  time,  but  now 
an  act  of  the  legislature  gives  us  the  right  to  go  anywhere  with 
our  aqueducts.  This  proposition  is  for  the  public  good,  in 
that  it  is  filling  and  reclaiming  swamp  lands  and  providing 
water  for  irrigation.  In  doing  this  we  are  lessening  the 
haunts  of  reptiles  and  the  spreading  of  insects  and  disease. 
We  can  condemn  any  land  that  we  need  for  that  purpose  and 
take  it  at  the  appraiser's  figures. 

"The  swamp  lands  are  now  at  our  command.  The  act 
of  the  legislature  has  made  it  impossible  for  anyone  to  block 
our  work  along  that  line.  The  filling  is  compulsory  as  fast 
as  we  get  to  it.  We  have  had  a  lot  of  trouble  in  getting  these 
things  all  straightened  out,  and  had  it  not  been  for  such  men 
of  influence  as  the  Governor  here  and  Congressman-elect 
Winters  we  never  would  have  overcome  some  of  these 
difficulties. 

"The  success  of  our  plan,  and  the  whole  proposition,  de 
pends  upon  the  co-operation  of  you  gentlemen  with  us.  We 
are  out  for  an  honest  deal  and  will  treat  you  right.  Some  of 
you  have  been  imposed  upon  by  others,  so  now  you  can  see 
what  we  have  been  contending  with.  Your  troubles  are  noth 
ing  as  compared  to  the  obstacles  placed  in  our  way  by  vicious 
and  heartless  men. 

"For  the  good  of  the  company  and  for  your  own  good,  we 


BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         381 

want  to  ask  you  to  report  anything  to  the  head  office  here 
that  you  don't  understand  and  think  needs  investigation.  In 
that  way  we  will  be  able  to  thwart  some  of  these  frauds  be 
fore  they  go  too  far.  Had  you  reported  that  man  Williams 
as  getting  the  contracts,  we  would  have  caught  him  and  saved 
you  your  money.  When  you  see  anything  else  going  on  like 
that  let  us  know. 

"Some  of  you  men  are  now  holding  back  because  others 
have  imposed  upon  you,  just  as  though  it  was  our  fault,  when 
we  had  nothing  in  the  world  to  do  with  it.  We  want  the  con 
tract  upon  every  mine  that  comes  within  the  reach  of  these 
flumes  we  are  building.  Then  if  any  of  you  are  unable  to 
raise  the  necessary  money  to  get  started  in  your  work  and 
get  it  to  paying,  we  will  assist  you  or  sell  your  property  to 
someone  for  you,  or  we  will  work  it  ourselves  for  you  upon 
the  percentage  basis. 

"Some  of  you  will  not  be  able  to  get  water  to  pipe  off 
your  gravel  without  bringing  it  too  great  a  distance,  or  with 
out  too  great  cost.  By  these  contracts  when  you  have  piped 
off  your  gravel  you  are  done  with  your  water  right.  We 
reserve  the  right  to  take  charge  of  that  water  after  you  are 
through  with  it,  and  permit  some  other  man  who  has  a  gravel 
bed  but  no  water,  to  use  it,  and  so  on  to  the  next  and  the  next. 
This  is  to  keep  the  big  fellows  from  squeezing  out  the  little 
men,  and  at  the  same  time  to  permit  all  the  gravel  to  be 
worked  while  we  are  at  it.  So  far  as  we,  as  a  company,  are 
concerned,  we  care  nothing  for  the  water  rights.  We  simply 
want  the  piping  all  done  at  once,  and  don't  want  any  gravel 
left  behind.  Nor  do  we  want  any  poor  man  to  be  handicapped 
or  unable  to  sluice  because  he  can't  get  water.  We  will  see 
that  he  does  get  it. 

"So  far  as  water  rights  for  power  are  concerned,  we  will 
have  all  of  that  we  want  along  our  aqueduct.  We  can  take 
all  the  water  out  of  the  river  if  we  need  it,  for  either  filling 
or  irrigation  purposes,  and  on  our  line  we  will  have  several 
good  sites  for  power  plants.  We  have  already  laid  out  a 
town  site  at  one  of  them  and  will  generate  all  the  power  and 


382 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


light  needed  in  it  for  a  city  of  fifty  thousand  people.  So  you 
see  we  are  only  interested  in  your  water  rights  for  sluicing. 
After  that  is  done  and  we  have  left  that  section,  you  can  have  it 
again,  so  far  as  this  company  is  concerned,  but  we  will  hold 
it  as  long  as  there  is  any  piping  to  be  done. 

"I  have  tabulated  the  few  reports  as  you  sent  them  in  this 
morning,  and  here  upon  the  blackboard  I  give  you  a  list 
of  the  mines  which  have  so  far  been  reported.  It  is  far  from 
complete  yet,  and  I  see  that  your  figures  are  not  all  correct. 
The  first  column  gives  the  number  of  yards  which  have  been 
piped  away  and  what  is  made.  The  next  gives  the  yardage  yet 
remaining  in  place  and  the  estimated  amount  of  gold  avail 
able.  From  all  the  gravel  beds  in  this  state  there  is  some 
thing  like  two  billions  of  gold  to  be  recovered  yet,  and,  while 
that  will  give  the  company  a  handsome  profit,  yet  you  would 
get  nothing  out  of  it  unless  we  made  it  possible  for  you  to  do 
so.  In  this  way  we  will  all  profit  by  it. 


Yards 

Yards 

Estimated 

Gravel  Mine 

washed 

Made 

remaining 

Gold  in  it 

North  Columbia  

25,000,000 

$5,000,000 

165,000,000 

$35,000,000 

North    Bloomfield.  .  . 

30,000,000 

6,500,000 

130,000,000 

35,000,000 

Blue  Tent  

15,000,000 

3,500,000 

90,000,000 

20,000,000 

Quaker   Hill    

35,000,000 

7,000,000 

140,000,000 

30,000,000 

Scotts  Flat   

12,000,000 

2,500,000 

80,000,000 

15,000,000 

You  Bet,  Hunts  Hill 

47,000,000 

6,500,000 

100,000,000 

10,000,000 

Little  York   

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

2,000,000 

Dutch  Flat   

90,000,000 

3,000,000 

100,000,000 

4,000,000 

Gold  Run  

84,000,000 

3,000,000 

100,000,000 

2,000,000 

Liberty  Hill    

2,000,000 

1,750,000 

16,000,000 

7,000,000 

Remington  Hill   .... 

1,450,000 

3,000,000 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

Alpha    

5,000,000 

3,000,000 

2,000,000 

1,000,000 

Omega    

12,000,000 

2,500,000 

40,000,000 

5,000,000 

Iowa  Hill  

40,000,000 

10,000,000 

30,000,000 

8,000,000 

Peckham  Hill  

11,000,000 

5,000,000 

15,000,000 

6,000,000 

George    Hill    

9,000,000 

5,000,000 

13,000,000 

7,000,000 

Dardanelles    

5,000,000 

2,000,000 

7,000,000 

2,500,000 

Brush  Canyon  

8,000,000 

2,500,000 

14,000,000 

6,750,000 

French   Corral    

32,000,000 

7,000,000 

10,000,000 

3,000,000 

North   San  Juan.  .  .  . 

20,000,000 

6,500,000 

3,000,000 

2,000,000 

Badger,  Cherokee  .  .  . 

10,000,000 

8,000,000 

33,000,000 

25,000,000 

Patterson     

5,000,000 

1,500,000 

96,000,000 

35,000,000 

Sugar  Loaf   

10,000,000 

6,500,000 

25,000,000 

18,000,000 

Murchie    

500,000 

1,000,000 

30,000,000 

12,000,000 

BOMBARDING  THE  FORTIFICATIONS         383 


Gravel  Mine 
Smartsville,  etc.   .  . 
Sicard   Flat    

Yards 
washed 

..  44,000,000 
.  .     1,700,000 

Made 

13,000,000 
3,000,000 

Yards 
remaining 

50,000,000 
20,000,000 

Estimated 
Gold  in  it 

15,000,000 
9,000  000 

Keystone    

..   10,000,000 

7,000,000 

20,000,000 

14000,000 

500,000 

100,000 

10000000 

9000000 

Scales,  etc  , 

,  .  .     4,050,000 

2,000,000 

60,000  000 

27  000  000 

Indiana  Hill    

.  .     4,000,000 

1,750000 

8000000 

3,000000 

Willow  Creek  . 

5.000.000 

1.000,000 

3.000.000 

1.000.000 

"The  above  are  only  a  few  of  the  mines  we  have  in  this 
section.  There  are  simply  hundreds  of  them  along  the  four 
streams  which  we  will  work.  There  are  hundreds  of  millions 
of  yards  of  gravel  which  you  have  not  reported  to  me.  I 
have  my  survey  noted,  and  the  items  all  down,  in  the  com 
pany  office.  If  any  of  you  want  the  data  I  can  supply  it.  I 
see  some  of  you  are  not  very  well  posted  as  to  your  holdings 
and  what  is  there,  but  these  figures  will  give  you  some  idea 
of  the  size  of  the  task  we  have  undertaken  and  what  there  is 
in  it  for  you. 

"You  understand  that  the  fields  of  operation  which  we 
have  chosen  for  the  present  will  be  worked  in  sections.  We 
can't  handle  them  all  at  once,  for  we  couldn't  build  a  flume 
large  enough  to  handle  the  water  all  at  once.  This  flume  will 
carry  only  twenty  thousand  miner's  inches  of  water.  Again, 
we  are  covering  the  gravel  in  several  counties,  which  will  be 
carried  to  the  valley  by  four  streams,  the  Feather  river,  the 
Yuba  river,  the  Bear  river  and  the  American  river.  Some  of 
the  mines  are  located  on  and  along  each  of  these  rivers. 

"Our  plan  is  to  tap  the  Yuba  river  first  and  build  our 
flume  from  that  river  so  we  can  bring  the  waters  from  the 
Bear  and  Feather  rivers  into  it  later  on.  We  will  have  to 
build  a  separate  flume  in  the  most  part  for  the  American  river 
waters  and,  as  it  sends  such  a  volume  of  water  lower  down, 
we  will  have  to  take  it  out  well  up  stream,  above  many  of 
its  tributaries. 

"It  is  a  great  and  expensive  piece  of  work,  but  it  can  be 
done,  and  easily.  I  am  only  sorry  that  we  can't  get  to  you 
all  first,  but  you  see  that  we  can't.  We  expect  the  profits 
from  the  Yuba  river  works  to  build  the  flume  for  the  next 


384 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

section,  and  so  forth,  for  we  would  not  have  funds  available 
for  all  at  once. 

"We  want  every  man  owning  gravel  along  any  branch  of 
the  Yuba  river  to  sign  contracts  here  today.  Some  of  you 
have  and  some  of  you  have  refused  to  sign.  Unless  we  can 
have  you  work  with  us  wre  will  offer  first  services  to  the  men 
along  one  of  the  other  rivers  who  will  sign  up.  Nearly  every 
one  has  signed  up  along  the  American  river  already  and  some 
of  our  officers  wanted  to  take  that  section  first,  but  my  choice 
is  along  the  Yuba. 

"I  have  helped  to  survey  the  gravel  beds  along  all  these 
rivers  and  I  know  just  what  is  in  them  even  better  than  you 
do  yourselves.  I  have  totaled  it  and  found  that  there  is  at 
least  two  billions  of  dollars  yet  in  the  gravel  beds  of  this 
state.  Each  of  you  men  has  a  part  of  it,  but  you  can  never 
get  it  out  by  yourselves.  By  working  with  us,  you  can  get 
it.  Some  of  you  object  to  the  percentage  we  charge,  but  this 
is  a  tremendous  undertaking  and  requires  money.  We  can't 
do  it  for  nothing.  Better  for  you  to  have  the  nine-tenths  of 
it  and  we  to  have  the  one-tenth  than  to  have  it  all  lie  there 
in  the  gravel  and  none  of  us  get  any  of  it. 

"We  have  nothing  to  cover  up  and  we  tell  you  just  what 
we  are  doing.  We  intend  to  give  you  a  square  deal  and  we 
are  going  to  see  that  we  get  the  same.  We  ask  for  nothing 
more.  Now  are  you  ready  for  business?" 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
HAVE  WE  SAVED  HER  LIFE? 

As  soon  as  Lew  got  the  preliminary  survey  made  for  the 
Yuba  river  aqueduct,  and  had  put  his  corps  of  engineers  at 
work  setting  the  grade  stakes  for  the  new  channel,  he  called 
in  Abraham  Roe  and  told  him  that  it  was  necessary  for  him 
to  take  a  short  rest  before  plunging  into  the  heavy  summer's 
work,  and  that  as  he  had  some  very  important  business  in 
Kansas  City  to  attend  to  in  connection  with  the  cement  plant 
and  other  matters,  he  would  like  to  have  Roe  take  his  place 
for  a  short  time  and  direct  the  men.  He  would  be  back  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment. 

Mr.  Roe,  while  feeble,  was  yet  willing  to  do  anything  that 
he  could  do  to  help  Lew  in  his  great  work ;  so  he  consented  to 
do  so  and  promised  to  keep  Lew  posted  as  to  how  things  were 
going.  Lew  then  told  the  men  to  take  their  orders  from  Mr. 
Roe  until  he  returned,  as  he  was  going  away  on  very  im 
portant  business. 

He  did  not  tell  his  parents  or  anyone,  except  Jack  Winters, 
where  he  was  going.  He  always  told  Winters  his  plans  and 
sought  his  advice.  He  had  sent  a  telegram  to  Berkeley  the 
day  before  and  received  one  back,  but  no  one  knew  their  con 
tents,  for  many  such  telegrams  were  necessary  m  a  great 
business  like  theirs,  and  no  one  thought  it  anything  strange. 
When  he  boarded  the  train  for  the  East,  he  went  straight  to 
the  Pullman  car,  where  he  met  his  old  college  friend,  Dr. 
Gordon,  who  likewise  had  business  in  the  East. 

Nothing  more  was  heard  of  Lew  for  three  weeks,  except 
an  occasional  telegram  to  Jack  Winters  and  Abraham  Roe, 
and  these  were  simply  about  business  matters.  One  evening, 
when  his  month's  vacation  was  about  over,  the  telephone  rang 
at  the  Manning  home  and,  as  Henry  Manning  answered  it, 
he  at  once  recognized  the  pleasant  voice  of  Jack  Winters. 

"Is  this  you,  Henry?"  he  asked. 

385 

25 


386 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Yes.     What  is  it,  Jack  ?    Anything  new  ?" 

"Yes,  I  just  got  a  telegram  from  Lew,  sent  from  Reno, 
Nevada.  I'll  read  it  to  you :  'Will  arrive  in  the  morning. 
Phone  father  to  be  at  train  with  closed  carriage.  There  are 
four  of  us.  Tell  mother  to  be  ready  for  a  new  young  lady 
in  the  home,  but  don't  let  it  excite  her.  Lew  Manning.'  " 

"What  in  the  sam  hill  is  that  boy  up  to?  Is  he  married?" 
demanded  his  father. 

"I  have  read  it  all  to  you,  Henry.  You  know  as  much 
about  it  as  I  do,"  was  the  cunning  reply,  yet  his  eyes  twinkled 
with  joy  for  Mrs.  Manning. 

"Where  has  he  been,  and  what  is  he  doing  at  Reno?"  de 
manded  Manning,  now  getting  very  much  interested,  for  he 
did  not  even  know  that  Lew  had  been  away. 

"Oh,  he  has  been  gone  a  week  or  two  on  business  some 
where  in  the  East,  and  is  just  returning,"  was  the  guarded 
reply,  for  Winters  had  been  instructed  to  keep  the  thing  a 
secret  from  the  Mannings  for  fear  things  would  turn  out  for 
the  worse. 

"Oh,  I  see.  Some  friends  from  back  home  are  coming  out 
to  see  us,  I  suppose,"  said  Manning,  his  curiosity  satisfied. 
"But  is  it  necessary  for  me  to  be  there  when  the  train  arrives  ?" 

"Certainly,  be  there  right  on  the  dot,"  was  Winter's  quick 
reply. 

"All  right,  I'll  be  there,  then,"  and  he  hung  up  the  receiver 
and  told  his  wife  about  the  message. 

"Oh,  it's  just  some  folks  from  back  home,"  she  said.  "I 
have  been  expecting  them,  but  they  had  not  written  that  they 
were  coming  so  soon,"  calling  a  servant  and  giving  instruc 
tions  that  their  rooms  be  in  readiness. 

Henry  Manning  was  not  so  sure,  for  he  rather  expected  a 
surprise  of  some  sort,  but  he  could  not  figure  it  out.  He  did 
not  sleep  much  that  night,  for  he  had  to  leave  the  ranch  before 
daylight  in  order  to  get  to  the  train  in  time,  but  the  next 
morning  when  the  train  pulled  in  he  was  standing  there  ready 
to  meet  the  new  arrivals. 

He  stood  breathless  as  the  crowd  of  people  alighted  from 


HAVE  WE  SAVED  HER  LIFE? 387 

the  train.  One  by  one  they  stepped  off,  until  the  coaches  were 
almost  empty,  but  he  saw  nothing  of  Lew  and  his  party.  Just 
then  he  saw  Jack  Winters,  who  had  come  to  meet  them,  also, 
and  he  said  to  him: 

"I  guess  they  didn't  come  after  all." 

"Maybe  they  are  back  in  the  sleeper,  Henry,"  said  Win 
ters,  taking  Manning  by  the  arm  and  leading  him  along  the 
platform.  Presently  they  saw  a  group  of  people  standing 
beside  a  pile  of  luggage,  and  recognized  Lew  among  them. 
As  they  walked  toward  them,  Mr.  Manning  caught  sight  of 
a  very  beautiful  and  charming  girl  leaning  on  Lew's  arm 
whom  he  did  not  recognize. 

"By  George,  he  is  married,  Jack !"  he  exclaimed,  but  Win 
ters  just  smiled  broadly  and  walked  on.  As  the  young  lady 
caught  sight  of  them,  she  rushed  up  to  Mr.  Manning,  threw 
her  arms  around  his  neck  and  exclaimed : 

"Oh,  daddy,  it  is  you!"  planting  a  kiss  upon  his  hot 
cheek. 

He  stood  perfectly  still,  greatly  surprised  and  somewhat 
embarrassed. 

"Don't  you  know  me,  daddy?"  she  asked.    "This  is  Fern." 

He  recognized  her  at  once,  then,  although  it  had  been  nine 
years  since  he  had  seen  her.  She  had  been  but  a  little  child 
then,  whom  they  had  left  at  the  asylum  as  incurably  insane, 
but  she  had  grown  to  womanhood  and  was  so  changed  that 
he  did  not  realize  that  it  was  her  for  a  moment.  He  had 
not  changed  so  much  and  she  easily  recognized  him. 

Looking  past  him  she  saw  Jack  Winters,  their  old  neigh 
bor,  and  she  spoke  to  him,  also,  calling  him  by  name.  This 
all  convinced  Henry  Manning  that  she  was  restored  to  her 
right  mind,  but  he  hardly  dared  believe  it.  A  weakness  came 
over  him  as  he  fully  realized  it,  and  his  joy  was  almost  over 
whelming.  The  doctor  saw  that  he  was  greatly  affected,  and 
he  stepped  up  to  him  and  took  hold  of  his  arm.  To  turn  the 
subject,  Lew  said : 

"Father,  this  is  my  old  college  chum,  Dr.  Gordon,  of 
whom  you  have  heard  me  speak  so  often.  He  is  the  man  who 


WINNING  A  FORTUNE 


cured  Fern,  and  be  is  going  home  with  us.  This  is  the  nurse 
who  has  her  in  charge,  under  die  doctor's  directions,'' 

Manning  looked  full  into  the  face  of  the  doctor  as  he 
shook  his  hand  heartily.  He  noticed  his  youth  and  also  his 
businesslike  look  and  way,  and  he  said  to  him; 

"Doctor,  I'm  mighty  glad  to  know  you.  Come  along  with 
us.  There  is  nothing  out  our  way  too  good  for  yon," 

Then,  turning  to  his  daughter  again,  he  said,  "And  so  this 
is  really  you,  is  it,  Fern?"  at  the  same  time  patting  her  plump 
arm. 

"Sure  it  is,  daddy.  How  is  mother?"  and  her  face  colored 
up  as  she  said,  "Is  she  still  angry  with  me?'  referring  to  the 
incident  which  had  happened  years  ago  when  her  mother  had 
punished  her,  and  which  had  been  the  cause  of  her  nine  years' 
illness.  Her  mmd  had  been  a  blank  all  this  time  and  had 
begun  where  it  had  left  off  so  long  ago.  Thus  she  talked 
about  childish  things  in  a  childish  way.  The  nurse  and  doc 
tor  were  teaching  and  instructing  her  as  rapidly  as  her  con 
dition  would  allow,  but  they  were  trying  to  keep  her  from 
too  many  new  things  at  once,  and  away  from  excitement  as 
much  as  possible. 

"Oh,  mother  is  well  and  getting  along  fine,"  he  said,  throw 
ing  his  arms  about  her  again  and  drawing  her  close  to  him, 
"Fern,  mother  is  not  mad  at  you.  She  wul  be  tickled  to  death 
to  see  you." 

When  Henry  Manning  had  them  all  seated  in  his  fine  new 
carriage,  be  made  an  excuse  to  go  into  die  depot  for  a 
moment  and  told  them,  to  wait  He  knew  mat  the  excitement 
of  Fern's  recovery  and  sudden  appearance  had  been  almost 
too  much  for  him,  and  he  realized  that  if  Mrs,  Manning  was 
taken  by  surprise  as  he  had  been  it  might  prove  fetal  to  her, 
for  she  was  very  nervous.  So  he  stepped  into  a  telephone 
booth  and  called  her  up.  He  told  her  that  Lew  had  arrived, 
and  had  brought  Fern  and  her  nurse  and  doctor  along  for 
a  visit  to  their  home;  that  Fern  was  getting  well,  and  for 
her  not  to  get  excited  about  it  for  it  might  make  the  child 
worse.  Besides,  he  told  her  Lew  wanted  to  surprise  her,  so 
she  must  pretend  that  she  knew  nothing  about  it 


HAVE   WE   SAVED   HER   LIFE- j- 

Thus  Mrs.  Manning  was  prepared  somewhat  for  the  ar 
rival  of  her  child,  whom  she  loved  so  dearly,  and  for  whom 
she  had  sorrowed  for  nine  long  years.  She  felt  that  a  burden 
was  removed  from  her  heart,  now  that  she  was  to  have  her 
own  dear  child  hack  again.  She  was  delighted  at  the  thought 
that  she  was  better  and  had  a  chance  for  recovery. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  ranch,  Fern  could  not  realize 
the  change  that  had  taken  place,  for  this  house  was  a  man 
sion  as  compared  to  the  little  old  cabin  in  which  they  had 
lived  back  in  the  hills  of  Missouri.  Mrs.  Manning  hardly 
recognized  her  daughter,  for  she  was  now  a  woman  and  her 
voice  had  changed,  but  her  childish  talk  soon  convinced  her 
mother,  for  she  remembered  everything  that  had  happened  in 
her  childhood  days  quite  well.  Fern  recognized  her  mother 
as  soon  as  she  saw  her,  but  was  surprised  to  find  her  hair 
so  gray  and  her  face  so  careworn.  She  did  not  know  that  it 
was  worry  about  herself  that  had  done  this. 

"Now,  Mrs.  Manning/'  said  the  doctor,  after  their  visit 
was  over,  and  the  nurse  had  taken  Fern  to  her  room  to  rest 
and  sleep  after  their  long  journey,  "the  child  is  entirely  cured, 
and  has  been  rational  now  for  three  weeks.  All  she  needs 
is  good  care  and  to  be  kept  away  from  all  excitement.  Do 
not  allow  her  to  visit  much  with  strangers  and  never  talk 
about  her  condition  in  her  presence.  Just  let  the  nurse  have 
full  charge  of  her  for  a  few  months  and  the  battle  will  be  won." 

"Will  you  tell  us,  doctor,  how  you  cured  her  so  easily, 
when  all  the  other  doctors  foiled  to  do  her  any  good?"  asked 
Manning,  wonderingly. 

"It  was  very  simple,  Mr.  Manning,"  replied  the  doctor, 
with  confidence.  "When  she  fell  down  the  cellar-way,  she 
struck  her  head  upon  a  rock  and  the  skull  was  dented  in. 
This  pressed  upon  her  brain  and  caused  what  you  call  in 
sanity.  She  was  not  insane,  for  her  brain  was  perfectly 
normal,  but  the  pressure  affected  the  mind.  When  I  operated 
upon  her  head  and  removed  this  pressure,  she  was  at  once 
restored  to  her  right  mind." 

"Thank  God  for  such  doctors  as  you,"  said  Mrs,   Man- 


390 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

ning,  and  she  walked  up  to  the  young  surgeon,  threw  her 
arms  around  his  neck  and  kissed  him,  as  she  had  done  her 
own  sons  many  a  time.  Then  she  continued,  "Why  couldn't 
that  have  been  done  long  ago?" 

"It  could,  Mrs.  Manning,  but  the  doctors  didn't  know  it," 
was  his  reply. 

"But  tell  us,  doctor,"  asked  Mrs.  Manning,  anxiously, 
"how  did  you  come  to  know  about  our  child,  and  how  did  you 
come  to  treat  her?  We  never  knew  that  anyone  out  here 
knew  anything  about  her?" 

"That  is  a  long  story,  Mrs.  Manning,"  replied  the  doctor, 
looking  into  her  anxious  face,  "but  in  a  word,  it  is  all  due  to 
your  son  Lew.  First  he  became  suddenly  interested  in  my 
work  at  the  university,  and  he  went  into  it  almost  as  deeply 
as  I.  He.  watched  both  me  and  my  work  until  he  was  satis 
fied  that  I  understood  my  business.  Then  he  made  a  con 
tract  with  me  to  cure  his  sister  for  a  certain  sum  of  money, 
and  if  there  was  no  cure  there  was  no  pay. 

"I  agreed  to  it,  and  when  he  saw  a  chance  to  slip  away 
from  his  work  he  wired  me  and  we  hurried  to  Kansas  City 
together.  We  took  the  girl  to  a  hospital  there,  where  the 
operation  was  performed.  It  soon  became  evident  that  it  was 
a  success,  for  she  rallied  quickly,  and  the  next  morning  she 
asked  for  her  mother  and  father.  She  knew  everything  that 
was  going  on,  but  her  mind  had  begun  right  where  it  had  left 
off  when  she  was  injured  nine  years  before. 

"In  a  few  days  she  was  able  to  sit  up  but  did  not  know 
where  she  was  or  what  was  the  matter  with  her.  She  talked 
about  the  little  quarrel  she  had  had  with  her  mother  years 
before,  and  we  told  her  that  she  had  hurt  her  head  in  falling 
down  the  cellar  and  she  must  lie  still  until  it  got  well.  She 
does  not  know  to  this  day  that  she  was  ever  considered  in 
sane,  or  that  she  was  ever  in  an  asylum.  It  would  not  do  to 
tell  her  so,  for  her  pride  would  be  ruined,  so  I  caution  you 
that  under  no  circumstances  must  you  tell  her  about  it,  for 
her  brain  is  young  for  her  age  and  size  and  it  must  not  be 
worried  or  overtaxed.  She  knows  that  much  time  has  elapsed 
since  the  accident,  but  still  thinks  she  is  nine  years  old. 


HAVE  WE  SAVED   HER  LIFE? 391 

"We  have  told  her  that  she  had  been  there  in  the  hos 
pital  for  a  long  time  under  the  care  of  the  nurse,  and  she 
must  not  be  told  anything  else.  I  have  explained  to  her  how 
the  injury  dented  in  her  head  and  that  the  pressure  caused 
her  to  become  unconscious  until  I  lifted  the  bone  that  was 
pressing  upon  the  brain  and  then  she  got  well. 

"All  of  the  doctors  at  the  hospital  were  opposed  to  the 
operation,  saying  that  I  would  simply  sacrifice  her  life.  I 
insisted  that  her  life  was  lost  as  it  was  and  that  we  had  every 
thing  to  gain.  I  told  them  that  if  the  operation  was  success 
ful  we  would  save  her  life,  and  Lew  stood  by  me  and  insisted 
upon  it,  or  I  would  probably  have  come  back  without  your 
child.  The  praise  is  due  to  him,  and  not  to  me.  He  stood 
over  me  until  the  last  stitch  was  taken  and  saw  that  it  was 
done  right.  When  I  had  finished  he  was  the  first  to  pro 
nounce  it  a  success,  and  when  we  were  ready  to  start  West 
with  your  charming  daughter  restored  to  health  and  in  her 
right  mind,  Lew  said  he  was  satisfied  and  he  wrote  out  his 
check  for  the  amount  agreed  upon.  I  assure  you  that  it  was 
a  plenty." 

At  this  juncture  Mrs.  Manning  broke  down  and  cried  soft 
ly,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "God  bless  that  boy,"  for  she  was 
very  much  moved  at  his  thoughtfulness.  Henry  Manning's 
eyes  were  also  wet,  though  he  was  seldom  moved  to  emotion. 
He  said  that  Lew  had  been  a  source  of  joy  to  him  all  his  life. 
Had  it  not  been  for  Lew;  he  said,  they  would  still  be  in  the 
cabin  among  the  clay  hills  of  Missouri,  for  it  was  Lew  who 
had  inspired  him  with  the  idea  of  coming  West.  It  was  Lew 
who  had  found  the  gold,  which  had  started  them  upon  their 
road  to  wealth,  and  it  was  he  who  had  conceived  the  idea  of 
the  redemption  of  the  swamp  lands,  from  which  they  had  made 
their  millions.  Now  he  had  brought  back  to  them  their  only 
daughter,  whom  they  had  thought  lost  to  them  forever. 

Lew  Manning  had  already  hurried  back  to  his  work  along 
the  aqueduct,  for  he  had  only  remained  at  home  a  few  hours 
to  see  that  his  sister  was  safely  settled  there.  He  had  ex 
plained  to  her  that  he  was  digging  a  big  ditch  and  that  he 
must  go  and  see  after  the  men  at  work  on  it. 


392 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

The  doctor  stayed  long  enough  to  see  that  everything  was 
moving  along  all  right,  and  after  a  few  days  he  returned  to 
the  city  to  resume  his  work.  He  was  to  be  notified  if  any 
change  set  in  or  if  his  services  were  needed  in  any  way. 

Everything  was  now  joy  and  happiness  at  the  Manning 
home  for  some  days.  One  day  a  messenger  hurried  up  to 
their  residence  with  a  telegram  from  Sacramento  for  Henry 
Manning.  Something  had  gone  seriously  wrong  at  the  Win 
ters  home  and,  without  telling  any  of  the  family  its  contents, 
he  put  it  in  his  pocket,  hitched  up  his  team  and  started  for 
the  city.  He  decided  to  go  by  the  works  and  inform  Lew  of 
the  catastrophe. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 

James  Randall  opened  the  envelope,  removed  the  carefully 
folded  paper,  and  read : 

"Sacramento,  Cal.,  June  21. 
"REV.  JAMES  RANDALL,  City. 

"Dear  Sir:  If  it  is  convenient  I  would  like  to  meet  you 
at  the  Western  Hotel  at  six  o'clock  this  evening  for  a  con 
ference.  Important.  Yours  truly, 

"LEW  MANNING." 

James  was  very  much  puzzled  to  know  what  could  pos 
sibly  be  of  so  much  importance  that  Lew  Manning  wanted  to 
hold  a  conference  with  him.  Their  work  ran  in  entirely  dif 
ferent  directions.  What  was  of  vital  importance  to  one  was 
of  no  interest  to  the  other.  He  could  not  understand  why  Lew 
was  sending  for  him  upon  such  short  notice  upon  his  arrival. 
Could  it  have  anything  to  do  with  their  dealings  in  former 
days?  Was  there  anything  that  Lew  could  demand  of  him, 
or  had  the  elder  Manning  some  message  for  him?  Last  of 
all,  he  wondered  if  it  could  be  anything  pertaining  to  his  re 
lations  with  Myrtle  Winters?  He  stood  for  a  moment  look 
ing  at  the  floor,  wondering  what  it  could  be.  Then  he  looked 
up  and  saw  the  messenger, still  waiting,  and  asked: 

"Was  there  any  charge  upon  this  message?" 

"No,  sir,  but  he  asked  for  an  answer,  if  you  please." 

"Tell  him  that  I  will  be  there  at  the  time  stated,"  said 
James. 

"You'll  have  to  write  it,  Mister.  It's  against  the  rules  of 
the  service  to  carry  verbal  messages,"  replied  the  messenger. 

"Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon.  I'll  write  it  then,"  said  James,  with 
a  smile.  Turning  the  paper  over  he  wrote  upon  the  back  of 
it,  then  placing  it  in  another  envelope  he  handed  it  to  the 
messenger. 

"Mother,"  he  said,  turning  to  her,  "I  am  to  go  to  the 

393 


394 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Western  Hotel  this  evening  at  six  o'clock.  Don't  let  me  for 
get  it,  please." 

"All  right,  Jim.  I'll  have  the  evening  meal  a  little  early 
tonight." 

The  afternoon  dragged  heavily  for  James,  for  he  was  not 
a  little  puzzled  at  the  urgent  summons  from  his  rival  for  the 
hand  of  a  certain  young  lady.  Finally  he  decided  to  run  over 
to  Myrtle's  house  to  see  if  she  knew  anything  about  the  mes 
sage  or  its  purpose.  She  had  returned  to  her  home  a  day 
ahead  of  him,  and  it  was  possible  that  Lew  had  seen  her  and 
she  might  enlighten  him.  „ 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Miss  Winters,  for  calling  so  soon  after 
your  arrival,  but  I  just  wanted  to  ask  you  a  question." 

"Certainly,  Jim,  you  are  always  excusable.  But  won't  you 
come  in?" 

"No,  I  haven't  time,  but  I  want  to  ask  you  if  Lew  told 
you  anything  about  meeting  me  at  the  hotel  this  evening?" 

"Indeed  he  didn't.  Has  he  sent  for  you?"  wishing  in  her 
heart  that  he  would  send  for  her. 

"A  messenger  came  with  a  note  from  Lew,  asking  me  to 
meet  him  at  the  Western  Hotel  at  six  this  evening.  I  must 
hurry  back  to  tea,  so  I  will  not  be  late,"  was  his  reply.  He 
was  greatly  disappointed  at  not  getting  the  desired  informa 
tion. 

"Well,  what  is  strange  about  that,  Jim?"  she  asked 
nervously. 

"I  don't  wish  to  be  inquisitive,  but  have  you  seen  him  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,  Jim.  He  was  here  last  evening,  and  this  morn 
ing,  also,  but  I  thought  he  acted  queerly  this  morning,  for 
he  went  off  as  though  he  was  offended  at  something." 

Jim  thought  he  understood  it  a  little  better,  and  asked, 
"Do  you  suppose  that  has  anything  to  do  with  his  sending 
for  me?" 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  she  said,  getting  very  serious 
about  it. 

"If  you  don't  mind,  I'd  like  to  ask  you  another  question." 

"Go  on,  you  are  at  liberty  to  ask  any  question  you  wish," 
she  said. 


SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 395 

"Thank  you,  but  did  anything  come  up  in  your  conversa 
tion  about  me?" 

"Not  very  much.  He  saw  your  photo  on  the  piano  and 
seemed  a  bit  jealous  about  it,  for  I  had  it  there  beside  his." 

"Was  that  all?  I  don't  wish  to  be  inquisitive,  but  I  don't 
like  to  go  down  there  without  knowing  what  is  up,"  he  stated, 
while  his  actions  showed  that  he  was  very  much  concerned 
about  it.  Myrtle  began  to  be  perplexed,  too. 

"He  tried  to  find  out  if  you  had  been  paying  any  attention 
to  me  while  we  were  at  the  university,"  she  said  slowly. 

"And  your  answer  ?"  he  asked  quickly. 

"I  told  him  that  you  no  doubt  would  have  had  I  allowed 
it,  but  your  dignity  and  sense  of  appreciation  for  what  the 
Mannings  had  done  for  you  would  not  have  permitted  it.  I 
said  that  you  were  too  much  of  a  man  to  take  advantage  of 
his  absence  and  that  you  only  came  over  when  I  sent  for  you, 
which  was  only  when  I  was  lonely  because  I  did  not  hear 
from  him." 

"He  could  not  take  offense  at  that.  There  must  be  some 
thing  else,"  he  insisted,  whirling  his  hat  nervously  in  his  hands. 

"Why  do  you  ask?     Does  it  worry  you?" 

"Only  in  a  way.  I  can  stand  almost  anything  if  I'm  not 
taken  by  surprise.  If  I  knew  what  he  was  going  to  ask  me, 
I  could  have  my  answers  prepared." 

"I  will  promise  you  that  there  was  nothing  else  said  about 
you,"  and  she  turned  her  head  to  keep  him  from  seeing  the 
tears  in  her  eyes,  but  a  slight  sniff  told  him  that  she  had  a 
burden  on  her  heart.  He  longed  to  stay  and  comfort  her, 
but  he  knew  that  he  must  not. 

"Thank  you  for  your  kindness,  Miss  Winters,  and  for  the 
information.  I  must  be  going.  For  your  own  sake,  I  would 
rather  you  wouldn't  tell  him  that  I  called  this  afternoon,  but 
you  can  do  as  you  think  best  about  it." 

"Good-by,  Jim." 

"Good-by,  Miss  Winters." 

James  rushed  back  to  the  little  cottage,  where  his  mother 
had  tea  all  ready  for  him.  If  there  was  ever  a  mother  who 


396 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

was  proud  of  her  boy,  it  was  Mrs.  Randall.  She  believed  in 
raising  her  children  in  the  way  they  should  go,  and  she  had 
borne  the  burden  of  raising  her  other  children  alone  in  order 
to  let  Jim  go  to  college,  when  he  should  have  been  working 
to  help  support  his  mother  and  the  children.  He  had  had  a 
great  ambition  to  be  some  one  in  the  world,  and  she  did  not 
intend  to  put  a  straw  in  his  way.  Now  that  he  had  finished 
his  course,  and  was  able  to  take  his  place  in  the  world  with 
other  professional  men,  she  believed  that  he  was  able  to  make 
his  word  count  for  something,  and  it  was  a  great  satisfaction 
to  her.  He  was  also  in  a  position  now  to  help  her  out. 

Promptly  at  six  Jim  walked  into  the  hotel,  according  to 
his  promise,  and  he  found  Lew  there  waiting  for  him.  Lew 
had  been  busy  at  the  office  all  day  in  a  very  important  con 
ference  and  this  was  the  first  time  he  could  get  away,  for  he 
had  to  leave  that  evening  for  the  works,  as  he  had  to  be  on 
the  job  early  in  the  morning. 

"Hello,  there,  old  boy,"  was  Jim's  greeting  as  he  held 
out  his  hand  to  Lew.  "Glad  to  see  you." 

"Greetings,  Jim,"  and  Lew  thrust  out  his  rough,  sunburnt, 
calloused  hand.  As  Randall  grasped  it,  he  could  not  help 
but  stare  at  Lew.  A  great  change  had  come  over  him  since 
they  had  last  met.  Lew  was  dressed  in  a  coarse  khaki  suit, 
with  a  broad  rimmed  hat  and  heavy  miner's  boots.  He  looked 
no  more  like  the  college  student  of  a  year  or  two  before  than 
night  looks  like  day. 

"I  came  in  answer  to  your  message,  Lew,  but  you've  got 
me  guessing  as  to  what  I  could  confer  with  you  about,"  said 
Jim  with  a  laugh.  "Our  work  runs  along  entirely  different 
lines." 

"Yes,  I  presume  so.  In  part,  at  least,"  he  answered  with 
a  laugh. 

"But  I  never  forsake  an  old  friend,  so  here  I  am,"  said 
Jim,  taking  off  his  straw  hat  as  they  both  seated  themselves 
in  the  hotel  lobby. 

"I  don't  know  now  that  you  can  be  of  any  use,  but  I  wanted 
to  see  you  as  much  as  anything  else,  so  I  sent  for  you.  I 


SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 39Y 

must  be  off  for  the  works  in  less  than  an  hour,  so  we  will 
have  to  get  down  to  business,"  said  Lew. 

"Sorry  you  have  to  leave  so  quickly,  for  I  haven't  seen 
you  for  a  year,  and  it  seems  like  five.  But  what  can  I  do  for 
you,  old  boy?" 

"I  want  to  know,  and  I  believe  you  will  tell  me  the  truth, 
Jim,  about  Myrtle  Winters.  You  know  we  have  been  the  best 
of  friends  ever  since  we  were  kids  in  Kansas  City,  and  I  have 
had  hopes  of  making  her  my  wife,  but  when  I  called  upon 
her  she  acted  very  indifferent  and  just  like  another  person.  I 
don't  understand  her,  and  I  wanted  to  know  if  you  could  give 
me  any  light  or  information  about  the  girl?  I  mean,  has  she 
taken  up  with  any  other  fellow?" 

"Not  to  my  knowledge,  Lew.  We  all  knew  that  you  and 
she  were  fast  friends  and  we  were  all  expecting  that  you  would 
marry  her  as  soon  as  she  finished  her  course.  I  don't  think 
anyone  else  has  tried  to  win  her  away  from  you.  Your  brother 
Robert  has  looked  after  her  carefully  and  I  have  shown  her 
what  favors  I  could  for  your  sake,  Lew." 

"She  has  mentioned  your  name  several  times,  Jim,,  and 
your  picture  is  on  the  piano  beside  mine,"  displaying  some 
little  feeling. 

"It  is  only  in  friendship,  Lew,  but  I  will  confess  that  I 
would  have  tried  to  make  it  otherwise  if  any  other  fellow 
than  yourself  had  been  first.  I  like  her  well  enough,  but  for 
your  sake  I  never  crossed-  your  path  or  betrayed  the  con 
fidence  that  you  and  your  father  have  placed  in  me.  I  prom 
ise  you  that  I  never  will  as  long  as  you  have  a  chance  there, 
or  without  your  permission,"  he  replied,  emphatically. 

"Is  that  straight  goods,  Jim?"  asked  Lew,  seriously,  for 
he  had  thought  Jim  had  improved  his  time  while  at  the 
university. 

"I  said  it,  didn't  I?"  demanded  Jim,  slapping  his  hands 
together,  to  emphasize  his  words. 

"You  did,  but  did  you  mean  it?"  asked  Lew. 

"I  certainly  do.  I  owe  much  of  what  I  am  today  to  you 
and  your  father,  for  helping  me  get  an  education,  and  I  never 


398 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

will  cross  your  path  knowingly,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
I  adore  that  girl." 

"It  is  certainly  a  relief  to  me  to  hear  it,  for  I  thought 
Myrtle  was  throwing  me  down  for  you.  I  see  I  have  been 
'shooting  at  a  scarecrow/  "  and  he  began  to  breathe  easier. 

"That's  not  it,  Lew.  I  think  I  could  tell  you  what  it  is 
if  you  really  want  me  to,  but  I  don't  like  to  tell  tales  out  of 
school.  I  wouldn't  tell  you  in  this  case  unless  you  insist 
upon  it." 

"That  is  what  I  called  you  here  for.  I  thought  you  could 
tell  me,"  replied  Lew,  observing  carefully  to  see  if  anyone  was 
listening. 

"Do  you  insist  upon  it?"  asked  Jim,  hesitatingly. 

"I  most  assuredly  do,"  said  Lew. 

"Well,  you  know,  Lew,  that  you  have  begun  a  great  under 
taking  here,  and  a  mighty  worthy  one  at  that,  but  it  requires 
much  attention  to  make  it  a  success.  The  work  all  depends 
upon  you,  and  you  have  just  been  putting  your  whole  life 
into  it,"  began  Jim,  pausing  as  he  saw  Lew  was  getting  im 
patient. 

"Yes,  but  what  has  that  to  do  with  it?"  he  asked. 

"Everything.  In  the  first  place  women  don't  look  at  busi 
ness  like  men  do,  and  they  think  they  ought  to  have  more 
or  less  attention,  generally  more.  They  are  never  willing  to 
take  a  second  place  in  a  man's  heart.  You  have  had  no  time 
or  chance  to  say  nice  things  or  to  take  her  around.  Do  you 
get  me?"  he  asked,  to  see  if  Lew  understood  him. 

"That  doesn't  count  in  this  case.  I  think  as  much  of  her 
as  I  ever  did." 

"But,  Lew,  you  have  not  shown  it,"  said  Jim,  earnestly. 

"What  do  you  know  about  it?"  demanded  Lew,  indicating 
that  Jim  was  meddling. 

"Several  times  that  little  girl  has  sent  for  me,  for  I  never 
went  without  her  invitation,  and  she  told  me  with  tears  in  her 
eyes  that  she  was  so  fond  of  you,  but  that  you  never  wrote 
her  anything  but  business,  and  seldom  that.  She  said  you  were 
so  tied  up  in  your  work  that  you  neglected  her,  and  she  was 
hurt." 


SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 399 

"I  wonder  if  it  could  be  that?"  asked  Lew,  slowly. 
"Women  don't  like  to  be  forgotten  or  neglected,"  continued 
Jim.  "She  has  been  true  to  you  all  right,  but  you  have  just 
weaned  yourself  away  from  her  without  intending  to  do  so." 

"I  guess  you're  right,  Jim.  I  have  neglected  her,  but  I 
thought  that  you  were  the  cause  of  her  indifference.  I  tried 
to  find  out  from  her,  but  she  said  that  you  were  not  and  that 
you  were  too  much  of  a  man  to  do  anything  like  that,"  he 
said,  hesitatingly. 

"She  is  right  about  that,  Lew.  I  am  your  friend.  Myrtle 
cares  nothing  for  me,  and  I  have  not  a  dollar  and  could  not 
make  her  happy  anyway." 

"I  have  the  money,  but  that  does  not  seem  to  be  what  she 
wants,"  replied  Lew. 

"I'm  sorry  for  you,  Lew.  I  hope  the  damage  can  be  re 
paired,"  said  Jim. 

"If  it  is  my  time  and  attention  that  she  wants,  I  guess  you 
will  have  a  clear  track,  Jim,  for  I  have  too  much  at  stake 
to  fool  my  time  away  in  saying  nice  things  to  a  girl  and  tak 
ing  her  to  shows.  This  work  means  five  million  dollars  to  me 
if  I  make  a  success  of  it,  and  it  is  all  depending  on  me.  I 
must  give  my  time  and  attention  to  it.  If  Myrtle  is  going 
to  forsake  me  for  attending  strictly  to  business,  I  guess  she 
had  better  do  it  now  than  later  on,"  was  Lew's  reply,  as  if 
he  had  made  his  decision. 

"I  don't  think  that  is  necessary,  Lew,  but  you  haven't  given 
her  the  attention  that  you  should,  have  you?"  insisted  Jim. 

"What  do  you  mean  ?"  demanded  Lew  again,  thinking  Jim 
was  meddling. 

"There  is  a  post  office,  and  a  telegraph,  and  a  telephone 
on  the  line  of  your  works,  isn't  there?"  asked  Jim,  determined 
to  convince  him. 

"Yes,  we  have  to  have  them  for  the  business  of  the  com 
pany." 

"You  should  use  them  a  little  more  for  your  own  business, 
and  for  the  sake  of  that  little  girl.  That's  where  you're  lame. 
It's  your  own  fault,  Lew.  Don't  blame  her." 


400 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  see  that  now,  but  I  have  been  busy  every  day  and  have 
always  had  a  lot  of  figuring  to  do  of  evenings.  I  rarely  ever 
had  time  to  think  of  or  write  to  friends,"  seeing  things  in  a 
different  light. 

"I  have  given  you  the  hint  and  that  is  all  I  can  do,  Lew." 

"I  thank  you  for  it,,  but  I'm  afraid  it's  come  too  late,"  re 
plied  Lew. 

"You  don't  mean  it,  Lew?"  asked  Jim  seriously,  while  his 
heart  gave  a  quick  thump. 

"I  rather  think  so.  At  least,  our  meeting  this  morning  broke 
up  that  way,"  said  Lew,  remorsefully. 

"If  I  can  be  of  any  service  to  you,  just  call  on  me,"  an 
swered  Jim. 

"Thanks,  Jim.  Well,  I  must  be  off.  Good-by,  and  good 
luck  to  you  in  your  work." 

"The  same  to  you.  I  am  coming  up  on  the  works  to  see 
you  this  summer,  if  I  can  find  time." 

"I  hope  you  can.  I'll  try  to  show  you  a  good  time,"  replied 
the  engineer. 

Lew  hurried  out  of  the  hotel,  mounted  his  horse,  which 
was  hitched  outside,  and,  waving  his  hand  at  Jim,  he  rode 
off  at  a  gallop.  Jim  stood  watching  him  for  some  time,  and 
then  he  said  to  himself :  "That  man  is  WINNING  A  FOR 
TUNE,  and  doing  it  easily,  as  far  as  money  is  concerned,  but 
he  is  losing  another.  If  I  could  win  that  girl,  I  would  con 
sider  her  a  bigger  and  better  fortune." 

Then  he  hurried  off  to  his  home,  for  a  number  of  young 
people  were  to  give  him  a  reception  that  evening. 

******** 

"Myrtle,"  called  Jack  Winters,  as  he  came  home  from  the 
office  at  six  o'clock  that  evening.  He  had  heard  her  talking 
with  his  wife  in  the  kitchen. 

"Yes,  father,  I'm  coming,"  she  answered,  but  she  thought 
it  a  little  strange  that  he  should  call  her  that  way.  "What 
is  it?"  she  asked,  as  she  ran  up  to  him  and  he  put  his  arms 
around  her  in  his  usual  way. 

"I  wanted  to  ask  you  what  went  wrong  with  you  and 
Lew?" 


SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 401 

"Why,  father,  why  do  you  ask?  How  do  you  know  that 
anything  went  wrong?" 

"How  do  I  know?  Why  Lew  was  here  when  I  went  to 
the  office,  and  when  he  came  it  was  evident  that  he  was 
put  out  about  something,  and  he  remained  that  way  all  day. 
I  couldn't  help  but  see  that  something  was  wrong,  so  I  asked 
him  what  it  was,  but  he  refused  to  say  a  word.  He  mumbled 
something  about  Jim  Randall  as  he  went  out  the  door." 

"That  is  strange,  father,"  was  her  guarded  reply. 

"Tell  me,  daughter,  have  you  thrown  Lew  down  for  such 
a  man  as  Jim  Randall?" 

"Indeed  I  haven't,  father,"  was  her  quick  reply,  and  as 
her  big  blue  eyes  looked  earnestly  at  him,  he  was  convinced 
that  she  was  telling  the  truth. 

"Well,  there  is  something  wrong,  Myrtle,  or  Lew  would 
have  taken  me  into  his  confidence,"  said  the  lawyer,  puzzled. 

"I  admit  that,  but  it's  Lew's  own  fault.  He  suspects  that 
there's  something  wrong  when  there  isn't,"  she  replied 
frankly. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that,  daughter?" 

"I  mean  he  has  neglected  me  ever  since  he  has  taken  up 
this  company  work.  I  was  just  dying  to  get  a  line  from  him 
when  I  was  in  school,  but  he  wrote  me  only  once  in  a  great 
while  and  then  it  was  nothing  but  his  work  that  he  talked 
about,  and  while  I  was  glad  that  he  was  doing  well,  yet  I 
wanted  to  hear  something  else  once  in  a  while.  I  told  him 
so,  too." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  have  turned  him  down?" 
anxiously. 

"How  could  I  turn  him  down,  father,  when  he  has  never 
given  me  a  chance?" 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  in  all  your  years  of  intimate 
friendship  he  has  never  asked  you  to  be  his  wife?"  very  much 
surprised. 

"He  never  has,  father,  as  I  live !"  looking  him  squarely  in 
the  eyes. 

"That  is  queer,  for  he  always  talked  differently  to  me," 
the  father  said. 

26 


402 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Well,  he  has  hinted  as  much  to  me  upon  several  occa 
sions,  but  he  has  never  asked  me  outright,  and  I  have  never 
promised  him.  He  often  talked  as  though  I  belonged  to  him," 
she  said  nervously. 

"He  seems  to  be  dead  in  love  with  you,  and  I  consider  him 
to  be  a  very  extraordinary  young  man.  He  is  head  and 
shoulders  above  everybody  in  his  line  and  has  a  great  future 
before  him,"  her  father  said  proudly. 

"That  is  probably  true,  but  a  woman  to  be  happy  wants 
something  more  than  a  steady  diet  of  business.  She  likes  a 
little  attention,  and  when  she  has  been  true  and  faithful  to  a 
young  man  she  does  not  like  to  be  accused  of  being  in  love 
with  other  young  men,"  she  said,  nodding  her  head  em 
phatically  and  showing  that  she  meant  every  word  of  it. 

"Certainly,  daughter,  you  are  right  in  that,  and  I  wouldn't 
want  you  to  feel  otherwise  under  such  circumstances;  but  do 
you  still  admire  him?" 

"I  certainly  do,  above  all  others.  I  think  he  is  a  regular 
genius." 

"Perhaps  I  should  have  used  the  word  'love'?"  he  said, 
lawyer  fashion. 

"That  would  be  different,  father.  There  was  a  time,  and 
a  good  long  time,  too,  that  he  could  have  had  my  hand  for 
the  asking,  but  I  fear  he  has  grown  too  far  away  from  me 
now,"  she  said  sadly,  her  voice  trembling. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Myrtle?"  trying  to  draw  her 
out. 

"I  mean,  father,  that  if  I  was  going  to  be  his  wife  I  would 
like  to  have  as  much  attention  as  his  horse  does,  at  least." 

Mr.  Winters  gave  a  hearty  laugh,  and  for  the  first  time  he 
began  to  catch  her  meaning. 

"Well,  bless  your  life,  daughter,  you're  right  about  that, 
and  I'm  sorry  that  things  have  gotten  so  far  apart  between 
you.  I  admire  Lew  so  much  myself  that  I  was  in  hopes  that 
you  and  he  would  always  be  good  friends." 

"Sorry,  father?  You  can't  be  a  thousandth  part  as  sorry 
as  I  am  about  it.  My  whole  life  was  depending  upon  him, 


SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 403 

but  if  I  ever  marry  a  man  it  must  be  one  with  whom  I  can  be 
happy.  I  do  love  Lew,  but  his  life  and  ways,  and  actions, 
have  become  so  different  since  he  has  taken  up  this  develop 
ment  work  that  he  is  cold  and  indifferent  towards  me.  He 
acts  as  though  I  was  his,  and  yet  he  does  not  give  me  the 
attention  he  should.  He  is  so  jealous  that  he  doesn't  want  me 
to  receive  attentions  from  anyone  else,  when  I  am  lonely  be 
cause  he  has  neglected  me.  Do  you  call  that  right?"  and  the 
tears  began  to  come  into  her  eyes. 

"Yes,  I  see,  Myrtle,  but  tell  me,  dear,  is  there  anything 
in  this  Randall  story?"  he  asked  seriously,  as  he,  in  his  lawyer 
fashion,  tried  to  see  if  there  was  any  other  reason  for  these 
things  than  the  one  she  had  given. 

"There  is  nothing  to  that,  father.  I  admire  Jim,  but  I  have 
treated  him  no  differently  than  other  boys.  He  is  the  most 
congenial  and  charming  young  man  I  ever  met,  but  he  is  too 
much  of  a  man  to  intrude  or  impose  upon  the  kindness  and 
confidence  the  Mannings  have  placed  in  him.  I  asked  him 
over  several  times  when  I  was  lonely  at  the  university,  and 
he  never  came  without  apologizing,  and  asking  if  Lew  or  his 
father  would  be  offended.  He  always  insisted  that  they  had 
befriended  him  and  that  he  would  not  betray  them  for  any 
thing  in  the  world." 

"Are  you  sure,  Myrtle,  that  it  has  gone  no  farther  than 
friendship  ?" 

"Under  the  circumstances,  father,  I  did  not  dare  to  let  it 
go  farther." 

"Oh,  I  see.  You  really  admire  him,  but  did  not  think  it 
advisable,"  he  said,  lawyer  style,  trying  to  make  out  some 
thing  that  was  not  true. 

"Perhaps  that  is  not  just  the  way  to  put  it,  but  if  you 
want  it  that  way  we  will  let  it  stand,"  was  her  quick-witted 
reply. 

"I  see,  but  are  you  sure,  then,  that  this  has  had  nothing  to 
do  with  your  becoming  tired  of  Lew?"  he  asked,  following  it 
up,  for  he  thought  he  had  discovered  the  real  cause  of  the 
trouble. 


404 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"If  you  think  I'm  not  telling  the  truth,  and  if  you  insist 
upon  it,  I  will  marry  Lew  tomorrow.  That  is,  if  you  don't 
care  for  my  happiness  and  simply  want  me  to  marry  a  man 
because  you  admire  him,"  she  replied,  angrily. 

"Come,  come,  child.  Don't  talk  like  that.  Your  father 
does  care  for  your  happiness.  I  shall  not  put  a  straw  in  your 
way,  but  I  would  hate  to  see  you  turn  down  a  man  like  Man 
ning  for  a  fellow  like  Jim  Randall.  He  is  a  smart  young 
man,  but  he  has  nothing,  and  look  at  his  family,"  replied  the 
father. 

"True,  father,  but  I  think  you  can  remember  a  time  when 
the  Mannings,  and  I  was  about  to  say  the  Winters  family, 
lived  in  shacks  back  in  old  Missouri,  and  they  had  nothing, 
either.  Who  would  ever  thought  they  would  be  where  they 
are  today?  How  do  you  know  but  what  Jim  Randall,  with 
his  great  ability,  won't  be  some  one,  some  day,  too?"  was  her 
sarcastic  reply. 

"There,  there,  now,  no  more  of  that.  I  guess  it  was  not 
all  Lew's  fault  that  things  have  gotten  into  the  shape  they 
are  in,  either,"  he  said,  half  angrily. 

"All  right,  father.  I've  told  you  the  truth,  but  you  don't 
believe  me  when  you  know  I  have  never  storied  to  you.  Mr. 
Randall  has  never  done  a  thing  out  of  the  way,  or  shown 
himself  unmanly  or  ungrateful  to  the  trust  the  Mannings  put 
in  him.  When  my  heart  has  gone  out  for  Lew  in  vain,  then 
you  want  to  break  it  more  by  these  unkind  words.  I  will  send 
Jim  a  note  to  stay  away  from  here  and  one  to  Lew  to  come 
on :  we  will  be  married  without  an  engagement  or  love,  as 
father  says  it  is  unnecessary,"  she  said,  defiantly. 

"You  are  entirely  too  headstrong,  daughter.  Be  careful 
that  you  don't  do  anything  rash,"  he  said,  becoming  somewhat 
ruffled  in  his  feelings,  while  Myrtle  began  to  cry. 

"I  thought  you  loved  me.  father,  but  I  see  you  are  as  in 
different  as  Lew,"  and  she  broke  away  from  him  and  ran  out 
of  the  room.  She  went  to  her  own  room  and  refused  to  come 
down  to  the  supper  table  when  tea  was  called. 

She  remained  in  her  room  all  evening  and  Jack  Winters 


SHOOTING  AT  A  SCARECROW 405 

was  greatly  worried  and  ashamed  that  he  had  wounded  the 
heart  of  his  only  child  so  soon  after  her  return  from  the 
university,  but  he  was  a  little  too  self-willed  to  go  to  her  and 
apologize  for  the  words  he  had  said  to  her,  although  his  wife 
insisted  upon  his  doing  so. 

He  laid  awake  late  that  night  thinking  about  her,  but 
towards  morning  he  fell  into  a  deep  sleep  and  consequently 
overslept  himself.  When  he  did  awake,  he  sorely  felt  the 
effects  of  the  experience,  and  was  resolved  that  he  would 
not  go  to  the  office  without  seeing  his  daughter,  so  he  sent 
a  servant  to  call  her. 

"She  is  not  in  her  room,  Mr.  Winters,"  she  reported,  "and 
I  fail  to  find  her  about  the  house." 

"That  is  queer,"  he  said,  and  ran  up  to  her  room  to  see 
for  himself.  The  bed  did  not  look  as  if  it  had  been  used,  but 
if  so,  she  had  arisen  early,  made  her  toilet  and  departed.  In 
vestigation  showed  that  she  had  gone  to  the  barn  at  early 
dawn,  roused  the  hostler,  and  told  him  to  put  the  black  driv 
ing  horse  to  the  light  buggy,  as  she  was  going  for  a  morning 
drive. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH 

There  was  no  small  stir  around  the  Winters  home  that 
morning  when  it  was  found  that  Myrtle  had  left  at  such  an 
unusual  hour,  leaving  no  word  as  to  where  she  was  going 
and  for  what  purpose.  Had  she  gone  away  in  a  passion,  and 
when  would  she  return?  These  and  many  other  questions 
were  asked  by  Jack  Winters  and  his  wife.  She  had  said  noth 
ing  to  anyone  but  the  hostler,  simply  telling  him  to  hitch  the 
horse  as  she  was  going  for  a  morning  drive.  He  thought 
nothing  of  it,  for  she  had  done  the  same  the  morning  before, 
but  not  so  early.  He  was  a  little  put  out  at  being  aroused 
so  early,  but  said  nothing.  He  simply  obeyed  his  summons 
and  got  the  rig  ready. 

Jack  Winters  sent  for  the  company's  detective  and  had 
him  look  over  the  situation.  He  examined  the  room  and  de 
cided  that  the  bed  had  not  been  used,  except  that  she  had 
lain  crossways  on  top  of  the  covers.  There  were  evidences 
of  sleeplessness  and  worry,  and  Winters  was  questioned  as 
to  what  had  been  said  to  her  and  how  the  parting  had  ended, 
etc.  The  detective  was  told  the  story  and,  as  Winters  fin 
ished,  he  shook  his  head.  Then  he  asked  how  long  she  had 
been  gone  on  her  drive  the  day  before. 

"About  two  hours,"  the  butler  replied. 

"How  long  has  she  been  gone  this  morning?" 

"Over  three  hours,  sir." 

"Family  trouble,  I  fear,  and  no  telling  where  it  will  end," 
said  the  detective,  shaking  his  head  again,  and  giving  Mr. 
Winters  a  sharp  look.  Winters  said  nothing,  but  Mrs.  Win 
ters  spoke  up,  "I  wanted  Jack  to  apologize  to  her  and  fix  it 
up  last  night,  but  he  would  not." 

"That  part  of  it  is  past,  Mrs.  Winters,  and  it  can't  be 
changed,  so  there  is  no  use  discussing  it.  But  where  does 

406 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         407 

that  young  clergyman  live  that  you    spoke    of?"    asked    the 
detective. 

A  new  thought  struck  Winters  that  perhaps  she  had  eloped 
with  him.  He  became  very  angry,  talking  loudly  and  making 
all  kinds  of  threats  as  to  what  he  would  do  to  him  and  so 
forth. 

"Hold  on  there,  Mr.  Winters,"  said  the  detective  sternly. 
"You'd  better  think  a  little  more  of  the  part  you  have  played 
in  this  before  accusing  anyone  else  that  you  are  not  sure  is 
to  blame.  Wait  until  it  is  investigated  and  if  he  is  to  blame 
we  will  deal  with  him  then." 

Winters  said  no  more,  for  he  knew  he  deserved  the  rebuke. 

Mrs.  Winters  directed  the  detective  to  the  Randall  home, 
and  he  hurried  off  in  that  direction,  saying  he  would  be  back 
soon. 

Jim  answered  the  rap  at  the  door  himself. 

"Are  you  Mr.  James  Randall,  the  clergyman?"  asked  the 
detective. 

"Yes,  sir.    What  can  I  do  for  you  ?"  asked  James,  politely. 

"You  are  acquainted  with  Miss  Winters?" 

"Yes,  indeed,  we  have  been  schoolmates  for  seven  years." 

"Have  you  seen  her  this  morning?"  he  asked,  casually. 

"I  have  not,  sir,  but  why  do  you  ask?"  his  curiosity  now 
aroused.  The  detective  was  watching  him  closely  to  detect 
anything  in  his  actions  which  might  be  suspicious. 

"She  is  missing.  I  thought  you  might  know  of  her 
whereabouts." 

"I  know  nothing  about  it.  I  was  out  late  last  evening 
at  a  party  and  just  got  up.  I  have  not  completed  my  toilet 
yet,"  greatly  surprised  that  they  should  come  to  him  about  it. 

"Where  were  you  last  night?"  thinking  he  might  get  a 
clue. 

"At  a  reception  given  me  by  some  old  chums  here  at  the 
Raber  home." 

"Was  Miss  Winters  there?" 

"She  was  not.  She  was  invited,  but  did  not  put  in  an 
appearance.  We  all  thought  it  strange  that  she  did  not  come," 
replied  the  clergyman. 


408 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  believe  you  are  engaged  to  the  young  lady,  aren't  you  ?" 
catching  young  Randall's  eye  to  see  how  he  took  it. 

"I  wish  it  were  so,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  is  not,  and  no 
possibility  of  it  as  far  as  I  know,"  answered  Jim. 

"You  have  been  keeping  company  with  her?"  he  asked, 
searching  for  a  clue. 

"No,  indeed,  I  haven't,  sir.  I  have  nothing  like  that  in 
mind,  for  she  and  Lew  Manning  are  intimate,  and  the  Man 
nings  are  friends  of  mine.  I  would  not  cross  their  path  in 
a  wrongful  way  for  anything  in  the  world." 

"You  have  been  giving  her  some  attention,  haven't  you?" 
he  persisted. 

"No  more  than  I  have  given  to  other  girls  who  are  my 
friends.  But  why  do  you  ask  me  these  personal  questions? 
What  is  up?"  he  demanded. 

"Is  your  mother  in?  If  so,  will  you  call  her,  please?" 
and  Jim  called  his  mother,  who  had  heard  what  was  said 
through  the  open  door. 

"What  time  did  this  young  man  come  in  last  night,  Mrs. 
Randall?"  asked  the  detective. 

"He  came  in  about  ten  thirty,  sir,"  she  replied,  timidly. 

"Has  he  been  out  any  this  morning?"  demanded  the 
officer. 

"No,  sir.  He  just  got  up.  But  why  do  you  ask?"  some 
what  frightened. 

"Well,  madam,  the  Winters  girl  has  been  missing  since 
daylight  this  morning,  and  as  there  seems  to  have  been  some 
trouble  in  her  home  with  her  father  over  the  attentions  of  this 
young  man  towards  her,  I  thought  I  would  see  what  part  he 
had  played  in  it.  Her  father  suspects  that  Mr.  Randall  here 
was  instrumental  in  her  disappearance  and  it  is  up  to  him  now 
to  prove  his  innocence,"  saying  it  in  the  way  an  officer  has  to 
try  and  get  the  suspect  confused  and  cause  him  to  say  some 
thing  he  doesn't  want  to. 

"Look  here,  sir,"  said  Jim,  walking  up  to  the  officer  and 
shaking  a  finger  under  his  nose.  "I  don't  know  who  you  are, 
and  I  don't  care,  but  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I  know 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         409 

a  little  about  the  law,  too,  for  I  studied  it  at  the  university. 
I  want  you  to  know  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  cir 
cumstance,  and  I  don't  have  to  prove  my  innocence.  I  am 
innocent  until  you  prove  me  connected  with  it,  and  don't  you 
dare  make  any  accusations  against  my  character  that  you 
can't  prove  or  we'll  show  you  there  is  a  law  to  protect  inno 
cent  people." 

The  detective  was  so  surprised  at  the  young  man's  nerve 
and  courage  that  without  thinking  what  he  was  saying,  he  re 
plied  : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Reverend.  I  didn't  mean  it  just  that 
way." 

"But  you  said  it  that  way,"  said  James,  cooling  down  a 
little. 

"I  simply  meant  that  we  would  look  into  it  further,"  re 
plied  the  detective. 

"Well,  that's  all  right,  but  you  should  say  what  you  mean. 
Now  I  am  ready  to  assist  you  in  looking  for  Miss  Winters  if 
you  want  my  services." 

"I  will  take  it  up  with  Mr.  Winters  and  if  he  wants  it  I 
will  call  for  you.  In  the  meantime  hold  yourself  in  readi 
ness." 

"All  right,  sir.  I  hope  no  harm  has  come  to  her,"  and 
the  detective  turned  away  with  a  much  different  opinion  of 
the  young  clergyman  than  he  had  gotten  from  Mr.  Winters. 
James  was  a  tall,  well  built  young  man  with  a  perfect  figure, 
for  his  work  in  the  athletics  of  the  university  had  developed 
his  muscle  and  he  looked  like  a  giant  to  the  detective,  who 
was  of  small  stature.  When  James  stepped  up  to  him  and  ex 
pressed  himself  in  such  a  businesslike  way  the  detective  saw 
that  he  was  no  fool,  if  he  was  a  theologue. 

All  forenoon  the  hunt  went  on  and  all  that  part  of  town 
was  aroused.  But  no  trace  or  word  of  the  missing  girl  could 
be  had.  Men  and  officers  were  sent  out  in  every  direction, 
but  she  had  covered  her  tracks  well. 

Lew  Manning  had  reached  the  work  camp  late  in  the  eve 
ning  before  by  hard  riding,  and  with  a  heavy  heart  lay  down 


410 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

to  take  his  rest.  He  arose  the  next  morning  and  went  about 
his  work  feeling  that  the  first  battle  for  his  foremost  desire 
was  lost.  For  the  first  time  his  work  seemed  a  task.  It 
seemed  as  though  his  plans  would  not  work  out  right  as  usual 
and  that  his  men  were  not  working  to  advantage.  All  morn 
ing  everything  seemed  to  go  wrong,  and  he  wondered  if  it 
was  worth  while  to  try  and  make  it  go.  Not  only  did  it  seem 
so  in  his  work,  but  he  had  left  the  girl  he  loved  in  a  huff,  with 
the  remotest  chances  of  ever  claiming  her  for  his  own. 

The  morning  wore  away  and  it  was  well  towards  noon. 
He  was  down  in  a  canyon  running  his  survey  and  setting  the 
grade  stakes  for  the  flume  when  he  heard  a  clatter  of  horse's 
hoofs  on  the  hard  beaten  highway  which  ran  along  the  bank 
above  them.  One  of  his  men  climbed  quickly  up  the  bank  to 
see  who  it  was  and  his  sudden  appearance  frightened  the 
horse.  The  driver  did  not  have  a  tight  line  on  him  and  could 
not  control  him.  He  whirled  around  so  quickly  that  the  buggy 
was  upset  and  it  rolled  down  over  the  embankment,  driver  and 
all.  The  horse  managed  to  break  loose  and  ran  away. 

"My  Lord,  it's  a  woman,"  said  Lew,  and  springing  to  his 
feet  he  rushed  to  her  assistance.  "She  is  dead,"  he  cried, 
when  she  did  not  move.  When  he  tried  to  pull  her  out  from 
the  broken  bows  of  the  buggy  he  saw  her  face  for  the  first 
time.  "My  God,  it's  Myrtle!"  he  cried,  and  he  fell  back, 
half  dazed  at  his  discovery.  In  a  moment  the  men  were  at 
his  side  helping  him,  and  they  pulled  her  gently  out  of  the 
wreck  and  laid  her  on  the  ground  tenderly.  Lew  rubbed  her 
hands  and  arms,  while  one  of  the  men  got  a  canteen  of  water 
and  wet  her  face. 

"She  is  still  breathing,  Mr.  Manning,"  said  one  of  the  men, 
and  thus  encouraged,  Lew  worked  with  a  fresh  determination 
to  save  her. 

"Go  to  the  camp  for  the  company  physician  quickly,"  de 
manded  Lew.  A  hasty  examination  revealed  the  fact  that 
none  of  her  bones  was  broken,  but  that  she  was  badly  bruised 
and  scratched.  She  had  fainted  from  fright  when  she  saw 
she  was  going  over  the  bank,  but  was  not  seriously  hurt. 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         411 

"Lew,  is  that  you?"  she  asked  faintly,  as  she  opened  her 
eyes  again.  "I  was  afraid  I  could  not  find  you." 

"Yes,  dearie,  this  is  me,  but  don't  try  to  talk  till  you  feel 
better,"  he  said.  She  lay  back  quite  still  for  a  while.  At  last 
he  asked,  "Are  you  hurt  badly?" 

He  shifted  her  position  and  placed  her  head  more  com 
fortably  in  his  lap. 

"I  am  all  right,  I  guess.  Just  bruised  a  little.  But  where 
is  my  horse?"  she  asked. 

"We  have  not  looked  for  him.  It  is  you  we  worried  about, 
Myrtle.  Are  you  sure  that  you  are  not  hurt?"  he  asked, 
greatly  concerned,  for  by  this  time  she  was  sitting  up,  trying 
to  straighten  out  her  tangled  hair  and  her  disarranged  gown. 

Looking  at  the  wrecked  carriage,  she  said,  "No,  I  think 
not.  I  was  just  badly  frightened.  I  guess  the  top  of  the 
buggy  saved  me." 

In  a  few  moments  more  she  was  able  to  walk  with  Lew's 
aid  to  the  shade  of  a  tree  nearby  and  seat  herself  upon  the 
dried  grass. 

"Have  you  any  water  handy  or  anything  to  eat  ?  I  haven't 
tasted  anything  since  I  saw  you  last,"  she  finally  said  to  him, 
fearing  she  might  faint  again  from  weakness. 

"Certainly,  Myrtle,"  he  replied.  He  reached  up  into  the 
tree  where  a  canteen  was  hanging  in  the  shade  and  handed 
it  to  her. 

"Can  you  drink  out  of  this  like  we  do?"  he  smiled. 

"Give  it  to  me,"  she  said,  and  putting  it  to  her  lips  she 
drank  greedily,  for  she  was  almost  famished  for  water  and 
the  sun  had  been  hot  that  morning.  When  she  was  satisfied 
she  asked,  "Will  you  have  one  of  the  men  look  after  my 
horse?  He  is  as  thirsty  as  I  was." 

The  horse  was  a  favorite  of  the  family  and  she  thought  a 
great  deal  of  him. 

"The  horse  ran  away  and  we  don't  know  where  he  is  now, 
but  we  will  look  after  him  if  you  are  all  right,"  he  said,  re 
luctantly.  "I  think  he  has  gone  back  home." 

"Let  some  of  the  men  go  for  the  horse  and  you  stay  here, 


412 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Lew.  I  want  to  talk  to  you,"  she  said,  as  she  watched  him 
take  his  lunch  pail  down  from  the  tree  and  give  it  to  her.  She 
was  soon  eating  hard  camp  rations  with  a  relish.  When  she 
had  finished,  Lew  said: 

"I'm  glad  you  enjoyed  that  lunch,  Myrtle.  I  wish  I  had 
something  better  for  you,  but  you  have  taken  me  by  surprise, 
and  I've  been  wondering  what  brought  you  here.  It  has 
been  a  long  drive  for  you." 

"I  will  be  frank  with  you,  Lew,  and  tell  you  the  whole 
truth." 

"I  never  would  expect  anything  else  from  you,  Myrtle," 
he  replied. 

"Then  I'll  tell  you.  I  came  to  ask  you  to  return  to  the 
city  with  me.  We  are  going  to  be  married  at  once,"  she  said, 
looking  him  squarely  in  the  eye  in  such  a  way  that  he  knew 
her  ire  was  aroused  about  something.  It  took  him  so  by  sur 
prise  that  he  hardly  knew  what  to  say,  but  after  he  had  gotten 
his  breath,  he  asked  hesitatingly: 

"What  do  you  mean,  Myrtle  ?    What  makes  you  say  that  ?" 

"I  mean  just  what  I  say.  Will  you  go?"  and  she  ate  the 
last  bit  of  bread  from  the  lunch,  adding,  "Now  I  feel  better." 

"That  depends.  I  must  know  what  is  the  matter  at  home," 
he  replied. 

"Never  mind  that.  Do  you  agree  to  it?"  she  asked,  turn 
ing  to  him  again  and  meeting  his  eyes  squarely  in  such  a  bold 
way  that  she  almost  frightened  him. 

"Not  under  the  circumstances.  I  mean  not  until  I  know 
what  makes  you  ask  it,"  he  said,  for  he  knew  that  something 
was  seriously  wrong. 

"Then  I  suppose  I  am  in  for  more  trouble,  and  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  return  home,"  was  her  reply,  recklessly;  but  he 
demanded : 

"Stop,  Myrtle;  that  is  not  like  you.  Tell  me  what  has 
gone  wrong?" 

"That  might  only  make  things  worse,"  she  said,  hesitat 
ingly. 

"They  can't  be  any  worse,  Myrtle.  I  won't  do  anything 
that  I  can't  understand." 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         413 

"Not  even  for  me?"  she  asked,  inquiringly. 

"If  it  would  be  for  any  one  it  would  be  for  you,  but  this 
time  not  even  for  you." 

"Then  can  you  find  me  a  way  to  get  out  of  here?  My 
buggy  is  broken  and  my  horse  is  gone,"  she  said,  without  a 
bit  of  emotion  or  feeling. 

"I  could,  but  I  won't  permit  you  to  go  without  telling  me 
what  has  happened,"  becoming  somewhat  impatient  because 
she  would  not  tell  him. 

"I  would,  but  I  think  that  would  just  make  things  worse," 
she  said. 

"There  is  no  danger.  They  are  at  their  worst  now,"  he 
said,  bitterly. 

"Then  I  may  just  as  well  tell  you.  Father  came  home 
yesterday  all  out  of  fix.  We  had  a  quarrel,  the  first  we  ever 
had,  and  it  was  over  you  and  Jim  Randall.  He  said  he  knew 
from  your  actions  at  the  office  yesterday  that  you  were  out 
of  humor  with  both  Jim  and  I,  and  he  accused  me  of  turning 
you  down  for  Jim.  He  just  as  good  as  demanded  that  I  marry 
you  because  he  wanted  me  to.  I  tried  to  explain  things  to 
him,  but  he  would  not  believe  me.  I  want  to  prove  to  him 
that  I  told  him  the  truth." 

Lew  gave  a  hearty  laugh,  which  only  provoked  her  more. 

"And  so  you  want  me  to  marry  you  to  settle  a  quarrel 
between  you  and  your  father?"  he  asked,  trying  to  turn  it  off 
as  a  joke. 

"I  offer  to  do  so,"  was  her  quick  reply. 

"Myrtle,  you  would  never  be  happy  in  this  world  if  you 
did  that,  and  I  wouldn't,  either,  knowing  that  it  was  done  that 
way.  I  have  a  higher  conception  of  marriage  than  that.  More 
than  that,  I  have  too  much  respect  for  you  to  see  your  happi 
ness  ruined.  I  hope  I  am  too  much  of  a  man  to  do  that.  I 
do  love  you,  Myrtle,  but  in  some  way  we  have  grown  apart 
and  our  ways  are  different  than  they  used  to  be.  I  rather 
think  it  is  my  fault  from  what  I  have  learned  since  I  saw  you 
and  I  take  back  every  word  I  said  about  Jim  Randall  since 
I  saw  him.  I  am  convinced  that  he  is  every  whit  a  gentle- 


414 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

man.  I  told  him  that  it  was  all  off  between  you  and  I  and 
that  the  way  was  open  for  him." 

"Lew,  I  couldn't  think  of  such  a  thing.  Father  would  say 
I  storied  to  him,  and  besides  Jim  is  too  much  of  a  man  to 
think  of  such  a  thing  under  the  circumstances.  I  can  never 
marry  Jim,"  she  said,  shortly. 

"Then,  Myrtle,  I  presume  you  will  have  to  wait  a  while. 
I  couldn't  think  of  such  a  thing  under  the  circumstances, 
either." 

"Understand  now,  Lew,  that  I  was  not  trying  to  force 
this  matter.  I  am  in  no  hurry,  but  when  father  talked  as  he 
did,  and  you  talked  as  you  did  yesterday  morning,  I  con 
cluded  there  would  be  no  happiness  for  me  anyway,  so  I 
thought  I  had  just  as  well  do  it  one  time  as  another." 

Lew's  shame  was  aroused  for  the  course  he  had  pursued, 
and  he  said: 

"I  beg  your  pardon  for  what  I  said.  I  was  wrong,  but 
I  never  would  marry  any  one  without  love,  and  I  would  not 
want  you  to." 

"With  father  'love'  doesn't  seem  to  cut  any  figure.  He  has 
chosen  you  and  wants  me  to  marry  you." 

"I  see.  Well,  I  guess  all  there  is  left  for  me  to  do  is  to 
go  back  and  straighten  things  out.  But  tell  me,  does  your 
father  know  you  came  up  here?"  for  he  rather  suspected  that 
she  had  left  in  a  huff.' 

"No,  I  didn't  tell  him  or  any  one.  I  came  away  at  day 
light  and  they  were  not  up." 

"My  heavens,  Myrtle,  the  town  will  be  wild  and  Jim  Ran 
dall  will  be  arrested  and  thrown  into  jail  or  accused  of  kid 
napping  you  or  putting  you  out  of  the  way." 

Turning  to  one  of  the  men,  he  called,  "Jump  on  a  horse 
and  go  to  the  camp  as  quickly  as  possible.  Phone  to  the 
company  office  in  Sacramento  and  tell  Jack  Winters  that  his 
daughter  is  here  and  is  all  right.  Tell  him  that  her  horse 
got  away  and  returned  to  the  city  and  for  them  to  be  on  the 
lookout  for  it.  She  is  all  right  and  we  will  bring  her  down." 

"Don't  do  that,  Lew,"  begged  Myrtle. 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         415 

"Indeed  I  will,  Myrtle.  They  will  all  be  crazy  down  there 
about  it  and  I  could  not  be  true  to  your  father  and  not  do 
so,"  and  turning  to  the  man,  who  was  still  waiting,  he  said: 
"Go  on  and  send  that  message  at  once.  Take  my  dinner  pail 
along  and  have  it  refilled  and  also  bring  an  extra  one  back 
well  filled.  Tell  the  foreman  that  I  am  going  to  Sacramento 
and  will  be  back  in  the  morning." 

Calling  some  of  the  other  men,  he  said :  "Get  that  buggy 
out  and  see  if  it  can  be  fixed  up  so  I  can  hitch  my  horse  to  it 
and  drive  in  to  the  city." 

"Pretty  badly  broken  up,  Mr.  Manning,"  said  one  of  the 
men. 

"Yes,  I  see,  but  it  is  only  the  top  and  the  shafts  that  are 
broken.  I  think  the  top  can  be  removed  and  you  can  take 
out  the  shafts  and  put  in  some  from  one  of  the  other  rigs  at 
the  camp.  I  have  got  to  go  back  to  the  city  with  this  young 
lady." 

While  the  men  were  trying  to  get  the  buggy  in  shape, 
Lew  saw  a  team  approaching  from  the  north,  headed  towards 
the  city.  As  it  came  closer  he  smiled  and  turning  to  the  men, 
said: 

"Never  mind,  boys.  Yonder  comes  dad  and  he  is  going 
to  the  city.  We'll  see  if  we  can  go  with  him." 

Henry  Manning  drove  up,  but  he  did  not  see  Myrtle  sit 
ting  on  the  grass  under  the  tree.  Calling  Lew  over  to  him 
excitedly,  he  said : 

"I  have  bad  news  for  you,  Lew." 

Lew  guessed  what  it  was  and  did  not  show  any  expression 
of  surprise  at  all.  "I  hope  not,  daddy,"  he  said,  quietly. 

"Yes,  it  is.  I  just  got  a  telegram  from  the  company  office 
that  Myrtle  had  disappeared  in  the  night  and  the  whole  town 
was  in  an  uproar.  It  is  believed  that  Jim  Randall  is  at  the 
bottom  of  it  and  there  is  talk  of  lynching  him." 

Lew  became  frightened  then  for  young  Randall.  He  did 
not  think  it  would  go  that  far. 

"Heaven,  daddy,  I  hope  they  are  not  laying  anything  on  to 
Jim.  He  is  as  innocent  as  you  are." 


416 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"But  they  have  arrested  him,  and  that  looks  suspicious," 
insisted  the  father. 

"Heavens,  you  don't  mean  it." 

"Here  is  the  telegram,"  and  he  handed  it  to  Lew,  who  read 
it,  and  then  said,  "Yonder  is  Myrtle  under  that  tree.  Wait 
until  I  show  her  this  telegram," 

When  Henry  Manning  saw  Myrtle,  and  then  saw  the 
buggy  lying  there  all  broken,  he  was  so  astonished  he  could 
not  speak.  He  looked  at  the  scratches  on  her  face  and  he  saw 
that  she  had  been  in  an  accident  of  some  kind.  Presently  he 
managed  to  pull  himself  together  enough  to  say: 

"How  did  she  get  out  here  so  soon?" 

"She  drove  the  black  horse  to  that  wrecked  buggy  there, 
but  her  horse  became  frightened  when  Bill  climbed  up  over 
the  bank  there  and  he  wheeled  around  so  quickly  that  he  up 
set  the  buggy  over  the  bank.  The  buggy  got  smashed  up 
pretty  badly,  but  she  says  she  is  not  hurt  except  a  few 
scratches  and  bruises." 

"When  did  she  come?"  asked  his  father,  quieting  down. 

"About  an  hour  ago,"  replied  Lew. 

"Any  one  with  her?"  asked  his  father. 

"No,  and  she  says  no  one  knew  that  she  was  coming. 
When  I  found  that  out  I  sent  a  message  at  once  to  the  camp 
to  be  phoned  to  the  office." 

"I  am  glad  you  did  that.  Hell  is  to  pay  there  today  from 
the  way  this  telegram  reads.  They  never  thought  of  her  com 
ing  here.  Did  she  say  why  she  came?"  he  asked,  anxiously. 

"She  and  her  father  had  a  quarrel  over  Jim  and  I,  she 
says,  but  as  sure  as  I  live  Jim  is  as  innocent  of  any  wrong 
doing  as  you  are,  daddy." 

"If  that  is  so,  there  will  be  something  doing,  for  I  won't 
see  an  innocent  fellow  like  Jim  imposed  upon." 

"Be  careful  what  you  do,  dad,  for  you  know  our  business 
relations,  and  we  have  a  lot  at  stake  here.  Some  one  has 
acted  too  hastily,  I'm  thinking,"  said  Lew. 

"I  shall  not  do  anything  that  will  hurt  the  business.  I 
mean  for  Jim  to  be  released  and  remunerated,  though,  for  his 
humiliation.  You  are  sure  he  has  had  nothing  to  do  with  it?" 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         417 

"Absolutely  sure.  He  was  the  last  man  I  saw  before  leav 
ing,  and  I  had  a  talk  with  Myrtle  just  now.  I  will  call  her 
over  and  you  can  ask  her." 

"Never  mind  just  now.  I  will  do  so  later,  but  how  is  she 
going  to  get  back  to  town?"  asked  his  father,  curiously. 

"I  guess  it's  up  to  you,  dad,  to  take  her,  and  I  think  I  had 
better  go,  too." 

"Can  you  get  away  handily?"  he  asked,  seeing  that  the 
men  were  doing  nothing. 

"No,  I  can't  be  spared  very  easily,  but  this  thing  has  all 
arisen  over  me  and  I  am  in  duty  bound  to  get  down  there  and 
clear  Jim." 

"When  they  find  that  she  was  here  with  you  that  will 
clear  him,  won't  it?"  asked  the  elder  Manning,  confidently. 

"I  am  afraid  not,  daddy.  I  was  out  of  humor  yesterday 
myself  and  I  thought  Jim  was  getting  ahead  of  me.  I  let 
Jack  know  it  when  I  was  at  the  office,  but  after  I  had  seen 
Jim  and  had  a  talk  with  Myrtle  here  they  both  convinced  me 
that  he  is  a  gentleman  and  in  nowise  to  blame.  But  Jack 
has  a  feeling  against  him  over  it  and  doesn't  know  the  differ 
ence  yet.  He  will  probably  make  it  hot  for  him." 

"Well,  if  that's  the  case,  you  get  yourself  ready  quickly 
and  we  will  be  off,"  and  he  got  out  of  the  buggy  and  walked 
over  to  where  Myrtle  was  sitting  under  the  tree.  Then  in 
his  usual  kindly  way,  he  said : 

"Did  you  get  hurt  badly,  Myrtle?" 

"No,  Mr.  Manning,  I  am  all  right.  My  arm  is  getting  a 
little  sore  and  a  bad  bruise  on  my  hip  pains  me  some,  but  the 
doctor  was  just  here  and  said  it  was  not  serious.  He  said  I 
could  expect  to  be  quite  sore  for  a  few  days,  but  aside  from 
that  I  am  all  right,"  yet  she  was  hurting  more  or  less  in  a 
dozen  places. 

"I  am  sorry  for  you,  Myrtle,  and  also  for  Jim.  You  know 
they  have  arrested  him  and  have  him  in  jail,  for  they  did  not 
know  where  you  went,  and  your  father  accused  Jim  of  getting 
rid  of  you." 

27 


418 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Oh,  heavens,  worse  and  more  of  it!  That  poor  boy  is 
getting  it  all  around  and  has  never  had  a  thing  to  do  with 
this  trouble,"  she  said,  indignantly,  her  blue  eyes  snapping. 

"Myrtle,  do  you  tell  me  that  Jim  has  had  absolutely  noth 
ing  to  do  with  your  trouble?"  looking  her  squarely  in  the 
eyes  to  see  if  she  flinched. 

"Absolutely.  Jim  is  as  square  a  man  as  ever  lived.  I 
know  what  I  am  talking  about,  for  he  has  told  me  that  he 
would  never  lay  a  straw  in  Lew's  path  or  betray  the  confi 
dence  that  you  and  Lew  have  placed  in  him  so  that  you  would 
regret  that  you  ever  helped  him.  He  has  proved  it  to  me  by 
keeping  his  place,  and  I  know  he  is  too  much  of  a  man  to  do 
otherwise." 

"Then  I  am  his  friend  still,  but  I  feared  he  was  at  the 
bottom  of  it,"  said  Manning,  taking  a  long  breath. 

"You  are  wrong,  Mr.  Manning,  and  I  want  you  to  get 
him  released,"  she  demanded. 

"I  will  as  soon  as  I  can  get  there.  I  am  going  to  take 
you  home  and  Lew  is  going  along.  It  is  very  necessary," 
was  his  quick  answer. 

"I  would  rather  go  to  your  home,  Mr.  Manning.  Father 
and  I  had  a  quarrel  and  he  will  abuse  me  again  for  this  trip, 
I  fear,"  and  her  voice  trembled  with  emotion. 

"No,  he  won't.  I'll  not  stand  for  it.  If  he  does  I  shall 
take  you  home  with  me.  I  never  knew  Jack  Winters  to  act 
hastily  in  anything  before." 

Presently  a  man  came  back  from  the  camp  with  Lew's 
pony  and  the  lunches  and  in  a  few  minutes  more  they  were 
off  for  the  city. 

In  the  meantime  before  the  detective  had  returned  from 
the  Randall  home,  Jack  Winters,  thinking  he  was  on  the 
right  track  and  not  waiting  for  the  results,  rushed  down  to 
the  justice's  office  and  swore  out  a  complaint  against  James 
Randall  charging  him  with  kidnapping.  Before  young  Ran 
dall  had  finished  his  breakfast  the  constable  was  there  and  had 
served  the  warrant  upon  him.  He  was  taken  to  the  city  jail 
protesting  his  innocence,  as  likewise  did  his  mother  and  the 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         419 

neighbors.  But  the  officer  said  he  was  just  doing  his  duty 
and  could  not  do  otherwise. 

"I  tell  you,  sir,"  said  Jim  to  the  constable,  "I  know  too 
much  about  law  to  resist  an  officer,  but  take  my  word  for  it, 
that  some  one  will  pay  mighty  heavy  damages  for  this  out 
rage.  This  arrest  is  made  without  the  least  evidence  or  even 
an  investigation.  It  is  my  turn  next,  and  you  had  better  be 
careful  that  you  don't  get  caught  in  the  net."  Then  he  went 
along  with  him. 

When  the  detective  returned  to  the  Winters  home  and 
found  what  Mr.  Winters  had  done  he  was  very  much  wor 
ried  and  told  Jack  that  he  had  acted  too  hastily. 

"That  young  fellow  tells  too  good  a  story,  and  his  mother 
and  the  neighbors  corroborate  it  as  well.  I  don't  believe  he 
had  anything  to  do  with  it.  Besides  he  is  no  fool.  He  under 
stands  law  and  his  rights,"  but  Winters,  being  the  leading 
attorney  and  very  popular,  thought  he  knew  a  few  things 
about  law,  too.  In  this  case  he  was  too  sure  to  make  an  in 
vestigation  first. 

Upon  his  positive  assurance  that  Jim  was  back  of  it,  the 
people  gathered  for  revenge  and  were  talking  strongly  of 
lynching  Jim.  But  Jim  knew  his  rights  and  sent  for  another 
very  prominent  attorney.  He  laid  his  case  squarely  before 
him,  and  the  fight  was  on.  The  attorney  advised  the  mob  to 
go  slow,  as  nothing  was  proven  against  this  young  fellow, 
and  that  there  might  be  some  mistake  about  it.  He  said  a 
man  can't  be  accused  of  kidnapping  when  he  hasn't  even  seen 
the  party  missing  or  hasn't  even  been  out  of  his  house. 

However,  Winters  was  so  sure  of  his  ground  that  he  in 
sisted  he  was  right,  and  all  that  day  the  battle  was  fought, 
Winters  trying  to  keep  him  in  jail  and  the  other  attorney 
trying  to  secure  his  release  upon  habeas  corpus  proceedings. 
At  length  there  was  a  call  on  the  phone  for  Jack  Winters 
from  the  camp.  Seizing  the  telephone,  he  asked: 

"Hello!     Who  is  this? 

"What  is  that  you  say?  Myrtle  is  at  the  camp  with  Lew, 
you  say?"  he  repeated,  in  an  excited  tone  of  voice. 


420 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Are  you  sure  she  is  there  and  all  right?"  he  continued. 

''Did  you  say  the  horse  got  loose  and  is  coming  back  to 
town?" 

"Oh,  I  see.  How  is  she  going  to  get  back  to  town?"  he 
asked. 

"Lew  will  bring  her  back  this  evening?  Good!  All  right, 
good-bye,"  and  he  hung  up  the  receiver  with  a  bang.  Turning 
to  the  others,  he  said : 

"What  do  you  know  about  that?  That  child  has  gone 
clear  up  to  the  camp  and  is  there  with  Lew  now.  They  will 
be  down  this  evening." 

"Heavens !"  said  his  wife,  who  was  at  the  office,  "and  here 
you  have  accused  Jim  Randall  of  it  all,  when  he  was  not  to 
blame  in  the  least,"  and  she  began  to  wring  her  hands  in  ex 
citement. 

"I  still  think  he  is  at  the  bottom  of  it.  None  of  this  would 
have  happened  if  it  hadn't  been  for  him,"  he  said,  defiantly, 
not  wanting  to  be  proved  in  the  wrong. 

"You  should  take  the  blame  to  yourself  a  little  more,  Jack. 
You  are  the  one  who  offended  her  last  night." 

This  made  Mr.  Winters  more  indignant  and  he  turned  to 
her  as  though  he  was  going  to  say  something  back,  but  Mrs. 
Winters  raised  her  finger  and  shook  her  head  at  him.  "One 
fuss  in  a  family  is  enough  at  one  time,"  she  said.  Everybody 
laughed,  and  Jack  hung  his  head. 

"I  guess  you're  right,"  he  said.  "It  won't  hurt  that  young 
fellow  to  stay  in  jail,  though,  until  they  get  here,  now  that 
he  is  there." 

"Just  about  a  thousand  dollars  per  hour,  that's  all,"  said 
Jim's  lawyer,  who  had  stepped  in  at  the  open  door  in  time 
to  hear  what  was  being  said. 

"What  is  that?"  sneered  Jack. 

"I  said  you  would  pay  a  thousand  dollars  per  hour  or 
more  for  false  imprisonment  and  the  ruination  of  the  char 
acter  of  an  innocent  man." 

"His  time  must  be  rather  valuable  all  at  once,"  replied 
Jack. 


DEFEATED  IN  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISH         421 

"I  shall  double  it  if  you  object  to  that,  and  you  will  pay 
it,  too.  A  man  of  your  standing  and  knowledge  of  the  law 
ought  to  have  better  sense  than  to  swear  to  a  warrant  with 
out  the  slightest  investigation  or  evidence.  You  apparently 
intended  to  humiliate  this  young  professional  man,  and  I 
guess  you've  done  it  all  right.  But  you  will  likely  pay  well 
for  it." 

"I'm  a  pretty  good  hand  in  a  fight,"  said  Winters. 

"Yes,  when  you  have  some  grounds  for  a  fight.  In 
this  case  the  more  you  fight  it  the  faster  you  will  go  down 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  They  have  honored  you  and  shown 
you  respect  heretofore,  but  now  you  have  cast  a  gloom 
upon  the  life  of  an  innocent  young  man  without  the  least 
pretense.  If  you  are  as  smart  as  I  think  you  are,  you  will 
settle  it  quietly  and  render  the  apology  due  him.  I  don't  like 
to  take  sides  against  you.  but  I  certainly  will  in  behalf  of  this 
young  man,  who  has  had  no  chance  to  prove  his  innocence  at 
all.  You  know  there  is  nothing  against  him." 

"He  has  not  proved  himself  innocent  yet,"  said  Winters, 
as  a  bluff.  , 

"No,  but  your  side  has  proved  his  innocence.  Your  driv 
ing  horse,  which  the  girl  took,  has  returned  to  your  barn 
with  a  part  of  the  harness  on  and  that  shows  that  it  has  been 
in  a  runaway.  I  also  suspected  that  she  might  be  at  the 
company  works,  so  I  sent  a  telegram  up  there  to  Lew  Man 
ning  upon  the  suggestion  of  young  Randall  and  I  got  this 
answer  back,"  taking-  the  telegram  from  his  pocket  and  hand 
ing  it  to  Winters,  who  read : 

"Myrtle  Winters  is  here  with  Lew  Manning.  Her  horse 
got  frightened  and  ran  away,  but  she  was  unhurt  except  for 
bruises.  Henry  Manning  will  bring  her  and  Lew  down  this 
evening.  Superintendent." 

Without  saying  a  word,  Jack  Winters  pulled  his  check 
book  out  of  his  pocket  and  wrote  out  a  check  for  ten  thousand 
dollars  in  favor  of  young  "Randall.  He  saw  that  he  was 
beaten,  so  as  he  handed  it  to  the  attorney  he  said: 

"I  admit  that  I  acted  hastily  and  if  you  will  write  out  a 


422 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

settlement  there  and  sign  it  I  guess  that  will  fix  him  up  all 
right." 

"I  will  take  the  check  this  time,  Winters,  and  give  you 
the  settlement,  but  I  ought  to  make  it  fifty  thousand  dollars 
and  my  fees.  An  apology  and  an  order  for  his  release  must 
go  with  it." 

These  were  forthcoming  and  then  the  lawyer  hurried  up 
to  the  jail,  got  Jim  released  and  handed  him  the  check. 

"What  is  this?"  asked  Jim,  as  he  took  it. 

"Just  a  little  soothing  syrup  for  this  indignity,"  said  the 
lawyer. 

"I  am  sorry  this  had  to  happen.  I  hardly  feel  right  to 
take  this  money  from  Myrtle's  father,"  he  replied. 

"Don't  worry  about  that.  She  will  think  more  of  you  if 
you  stand  for  your  rights  than  if  you  showed  the  white 
feather.  Besides  it  is  none  too  much,  for  this  will  get  into 
the  papers,  but  of  course  they  will  never  get  the  straight  of 
it.  It  will  follow  you  in  your  chosen  work  all  your  life.  It 
is  more  money  than  most  preachers  get  in  ten  years'  work. 
Take  it  and  use  it  well,  and  see  that  your  ol'd  mother  lets  up 
a  little  on  that  wash  tub.  She  has  worn  herself  out  trying 
to  rear  her  family  v/hile  you  were  in  college." 

"What  about  your  part  of  it?"  he  asked  the  attorney. 

"I  make  no  charge,  sir." 

"How  can  I  thank  you?"  asked  Jim. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES  VICTORIOUSLY 

The  California  Development  and  Mining  Company  had 
planned  for  a  great  rush  in  its  work.  The  cement  plant  was 
nearing  completion  and  the  sawmill  was  cutting  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  feet  of  lumber  to  be  used  in  the  concrete  forms 
or  in  the  erection  of  buildings  and  flumes,  etc.  Many  con 
tractors  were  on  hand,  grading  for  the  flumes  or  building 
some  part  of  the  aqueduct. 

The  flumes  were  to  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance  and 
in  order  to  get  a  gradual  slope  and  maintain  a  regular  per  cent 
of  grade  some  places  had  to  be  filled  in,  while  others  had  to 
be  excavated.  Greater  care  must  be  exercised  than  in  grad 
ing  a  railroad,  for  water  cannot  run  up  hill.  All  of  this  work 
required  very  accurate  engineering  in  setting  grade  stakes 
as  well  as  selecting  the  most  favorable  right  of  way.  In 
places  small  streams  or  canyons  had  to  be  crossed  and  in 
order  to  do  this  cement  bridges  with  arched  supports  had  to 
be  constructed.  But  under  the  leadership  of  Lew  Manning 
and  his  splendid  corps  of  helpers  the  work  went  on  without 
interruption. 

Lew  made  it  his  business  to  see  that  the  work  was  done 
on  time  and  ready  for  the  contractors  by  the  time  they  were 
ready  for  it.  Then  every  day  or  two  he  went  back  over  the 
work  done  by  the  contractors  to  see  that  it  was  going  on  as 
specified.  Since  he  had  learned  Myrtle's  attitude  toward  him 
he  had  ceased  thinking  about  it  and  had  thrown  himself 
wholly  into  his  work.  He  was  an  untiring  worker.  He  was 
first  on  the  job  in  the  morning  and  the  last  to  leave  at  night. 
He  was  always  sure  that  everything  was  in  shape  before  the 
day  closed. 

The  contractors  were  doing  the  grading  at  so  much  per 
mile.  They  were  having  some  difficulty  in  getting  and  hold- 

423 


424 WINNING  A  FORTUNE          

ing  men  to  do  this  work.  This  was  because  the  contractors 
mixed  their  men,  putting-  all  classes  and  nationalities  together. 
The  white  men  had  some  pride  and  self-respect  and  did  not 
want  to  work  with  "Choices, "  as  the  lower  class  of  Mexicans 
are  called,  Indians,  Japs  and  other  objectionable  foreigners, 
but  the  contractors  were  out  for  the  money  there  was  in  it 
and  they  employed  whoever  they  could  get  to  work  the 
cheapest. 

Finally  the  white  men  formed  a  union  and  informed  the 
contractors  that  they  would  not  work  with  these  foreigners. 
This  made  the  contractors  very  indignant  and  they  determined 
to  show  their  men  that  they  would  work  with  any  men  that 
they  desired  to  place  with  them.  They  threatened  to  go  to 
San  Francisco  and  bring  out  Japs  to  replace  them  if  any 
more  disturbance  was  made,  and  they  mixed  the  foreigners 
with  the  white  men  more  than  ever. 

The  Americans  were  getting  two  dollars  per  day,  while 
the  Mexicans  and  Japs  were  only  getting  a  dollar  and  a  half, 
but  there  was  a  great  difference  in  their  work,  for  two  white 
men  did  as  much  as  three  Japs.  The  Japs  were  small  of 
stature  and  good  at  killing  time,  especially  faithful  to  the 
latter.  The  American  prided  himself  upon  doing  a  good  day's 
work  and  having  something  to  show  for  it.  He  also  liked  to 
have  his  efforts  appreciated.  But  the  Jap  was  just  working 
for  wages.  They  lived  upon  almost  nothing,  simply  eating 
rice  and  vegetables  that  were  cheap.  What  money  they  re 
ceived  went  out  of  the  country  to  Japan,  while  the  American 
used  his  money  in  improving  his  own  country,  building  and 
paying  for  homes  for  his  family,  improving  lands  and  spend 
ing  his  money  in  buying  the  goods  of  home  industries. 

The  Cholo  is  a  cross  between  an  Indian  and  Mexican. 
They  are  big,  stout,  husky  fellows,  able  to  do  any  kind  of 
manual  labor.  They  are  immoral  and  ignorant  as  a  rule, 
caring  nothing  for  virtue,  or  uprightness,  or  the  law.  They 
want  to  be  a  law  unto  themselves.  They  want  to  satisfy  their 
animal  passions  and  will  do  so  at  the  first  opportunity  if  they 
think  they  can  escape  the  law.  They  will  nearly  all  steal  if 


OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES 425 

given  the  chance,  but  if  guarded  and  kept  at  work  under  a 
foreman  who  is  a  slave  driver,  good  results  can  be  had  from 
their  labors. 

The  Italian  laborer  also  comes  into  competition  with  the 
American  laborer,  but  he  is  not  so  objectionable.  The  Italians 
many  times  make  good  citizens  and  furthermore  they  are 
white  people,  but  the  Japs  and  Cholos  don't  become  citizens 
and  are  not  desired.  Yet  the  Jap  is  cunning  and  always  has 
his  eye  open,  if  it  does  seem  to  be  closed.  He  sees  what  is 
going  on  and  tries  to  ape  it.  He  wants  the  white  man's  place 
and  will  get  it  if  he  is  not  closely  watched.  He  wants  the 
white  man's  business,  and  in  his  cunning  way  he  will  get  it 
before  the  white  man  knows  what  he  is  about.  He  wants 
the  best  of  everything.  He  will  take  the  best  business  corners, 
causing  the  white  man  to  move,  for  he  knows  his  business 
is  ruined  with  a  Jap  on  the  corner  ahead  of  him. 

He  wants  the  white  man's  home,  and  if  he  can't  get  it  he 
will  stick  up  a  shack  on  the  next  lot  and  fill  it  with  objection 
able  characters  of  his  own  race  until  the  white  man  is  obliged 
to  sell  out,  no  matter  how  well  he  likes  his  home.  He  even 
wants  the  white  man's  wife  or  daughter  and  does  not  hesitate 
to  try  to  get  her.  Some  Americans  are  so  degenerated  that 
they  consent  to  marry  into  a  race  which,  when  compared  to 
the  African,  the  latter  is  much  to  be  preferred. 

The  Chinaman  and  Cholo  will  keep  their  place  and  stay 
among  their  class  and  people,  but  the  Jap  wants  the  white 
man's  place,  home  and  business.  He  does  not  come  here  for 
religion  or  civilization,  but  to  make  money,  and  he  makes  it, 
too.  A  foreign  country  gets  the  benefit  of  it,  yet  many  Ameri 
cans  give  them  their  patronage.  One  hundred  thousand  of 
them  in  California  alone  have  cornered  many  of  the  industries 
of  this  great  state,  and  they  are  taking  the  garden  spot  of 
the  earth  in  a  land  that  belongs  to  the  white  man. 

If  one  raises  his  voice  against  them  he  hears  the  echo 
from  Tokio,  which  re-echoes  back  from  Washington,  that 
California  must  be  good  and  let  the  foreigner  have  his  way 
and  do  as  he  pleases,  no  matter  if  the  American  is  deprived 


426 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

of  his  home,  business,  land  or  a  job.  And  so  the  wheel  keeps 
on  turning  and  the  cup  keeps  on  filling,  until  some  of  these 
days  it  may  run  over. 

The  contractors  were  making  splendid  headway  with  their 
grading,  and  had  they  let  well  enough  alone  they  might  have 
netted  much  more  profit,  but  they  tried  to  force  the  white 
man  to  work  with  these  foreigners  and  the  white  men  quit. 
The  Americans  refused  to  work  with  these  men  who  under 
bid  them  fifty  cents  per  day.  As  soon  as  the  white  men  left 
the  camp  and  the  Japs  knew  they  had  a  clear  field  and  that 
their  places  could  not  be  filled  with  white  men  again,  they 
raised  their  own  wages  to  two  dollars  per  day.  The  con 
tractors  had  to  pay  it,  although  they  knew  they  would  get  less 
work  than  they  did  from  the  white  men. 

*  *  ******** 

The  townsite  of  Sedrick  was  laid  out  along  the  great 
aqueduct  at  a  place  where  a  great  power  plant  was  to  be  built. 
This  plant  would  generate  the  electricity  to  supply  light  and 
power  for  all  that  portion  of  the  state.  It  could  even  be  car 
ried  into  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco,  as  well  as  other 
cities,  and  furnish  them  ample  power  and  light  for  all  very 
cheaply. 

The  country  around  this  site  formed  a  splendid  place  for 
a  city.  The  land  was  owned  by  Henry  Manning,  yet  he  did 
not  seek  to  monopolize  it,  as  he  could  have  done,  but  turned 
it  over  to  the  townsite  company  to  be  sold  out  to  Americans 
who  would  come  in  and  help  to  build  up  the  industries  and 
business  there.  He  charged  only  what  the  land  was  worth 
before  the  townsite  was  laid  out. 

A  real  estate  agent,  who  said  he  was  from  the  Pacific 
Realty  Company  in  San  Francisco,  called  and  took  options 
upon  several  of  the  choice  corner  lots  and  said  he  would  send 
out  contractors  and  put  up  a  store  building,  a  bank  and  other 
places  of  business.  This  was  what  the  people  wanted  on  the 
townsite,  so  they  lent  him  every  encouragement  and  induce 
ment  to  do  so. 

As  the  grading  was  now  completed  for  the  great  water- 


OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES 437 

way,  a  narrow  gauge  railway  was  laid  out  and  the  lumber 
conveyed  from  the  sawmill  in  the  timber  to  the  townsite, 
where  it  was  to  be  used  for  building,  bridges  and  concrete 
forms. 

Then  the  cement  plant  was  turning  out  more  than  one 
thousand  barrels  of  cement  a  day.  The  foundations  for  the 
buildings  and  even  some  of  the  buildings  themselves  were 
made  of  concrete.  People  began  to  flock  into  the  newly  laid 
out  town  of  Sedrick  and  the  town  lots  took  a  boom,  while 
the  real  estate  firm,  which  had  taken  options  upon  nearly  all 
the  choice  lots  and  many  of  the  others,  grew  quite  active  in 
advertising  the  place  and  in  selling  lots.  It  was  soon  evident 
that  they  were  coining  money  right  and  left,  but  they  had 
promised  to  build  several  store  buildings  and  a  bank  and  to 
put  the  people  in  them  to  carry  on  the  various  lines  of  busi 
ness. 

It  soon  became  evident,  however,  that  their  plans  were  to 
sell  out  the  lots  first.  When  questioned  about  it  they  said 
they  had  to  sell  the  lots  to  get  the  money  for  the  buildings, 
and  made  several  other  excuses.  No  one  knew  who  this  real 
estate  firm  was  backed  by,  for  only  the  agents  had  been  out, 
and  they  were  doing  the  work.  They  said  they  represented 
a  big  firm  in  San  Francisco,  but  what  of  that?  Who  cared 
about  who  they  were,  just  so  the  lots  were  sold  and  the  build 
ings  erected?  The  townsite  company  was  slack  in  this  re 
gard,  for  they  did  not  specify  when  this  work  should  be  done 
or  what  kind  of  men  should  be  put  in  business  there,  but  they 
had  faith  in  the  agents  and  their  promises. 

At  last  the  lots  were  all  sold  and  many  homes  were  going 
up  in  various  parts  of  the  little  city  of  Sedrick.  Ultimately 
the  work  was  started  on  the  business  blocks,  but  to  the  chagrin 
of  the  newly  located  people,  Jap  laborers  were  brought  in  to 
do  the  work.  Many  people  had  come  in,  bought  and  built 
their  homes  and  expected  to  get  work  in  the  town  and  on  the 
great  waterway,  but  they  did  not  want  to  work  with  this 
foreign  labor  and  the  big  ditch  was  not  far  enough  along  to 
give  them  all  work. 


428 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

The  store  buildings  were  rushed  along  to  completion  as 
fast  as  possible  and  then  the  bank  building  was  put  up,  which 
completed  their  contract,  but  not  a  tenant  moved  in,  and  it  was 
not  yet  known  who  they  were  to  be.  Finally  the  store  fixtures 
and  bank  paraphernalia  began  to  arrive  and  it  was  put  into 
place  by  the  same  Jap  laborers  who  had  erected  the  build 
ings.  Next  came  the  groceries,  dry  goods,  hardware,  boots 
and  shoes,  etc.,  and  they  were  also  put  upon  the  shelves  by 
the  Japs. 

When  the  day  came  to  open  for  business,  lo  and  behold! 
the  Japs  were  behind  the  counters !  They  were  even  in  the 
bank!  This  was  the  first  intimation  that  a  trick  had  been 
played  upon  the  townsite  people. 

None  of  the  agents  of  the  real  estate  firm  had  been  out  for 
a  month ;  in  fact,  since  the  buildings  were  well  under  way. 
They  were  to  be  there  upon  the  opening  day  with  a  big  dis 
play,  but  failed  to  put  in  an  appearance.  Henry  Manning, 
George  Garner  and  Jack  Winters  were  there,  and  when  they 
realized  the  situation  and  the  trick  that  had  been  put  over  on 
them,  Mr.  Garner  called  his  detective,  whom  he  always  kept 
with  him,  for  he  had  been  threatened  several  times,  and  sent 
him  to  see  the  Japs  to  see  if  he  could  find  out  something  of 
the  firm  who  had  sent  them  out  there,  and  what  their  names 
were,  etc. 

In  this  way  they  learned  for  the  first  time  that  these  Japs 
had  deeds  for  these  business  blocks  and  that  it  was  their 
money  that  had  built  the  buildings  and  stocked  the  stores. 
They  told  the  detective  where  the  firm  was  located  in  the 
city  and  such  other  information  as  he  wanted. 

Then  Manning,  Winters,  Garner  and  the  detective  held  a 
conference.  They  dispatched  the  latter  to  the  city  as  quickly 
as  possible  with  sealed  orders.  It  was  apparent  that  trouble 
was  brewing  for  some  one. 

Jack  Winters  had  drawn  the  plat  of  the  townsite.  It  was 
intended  for  a  high  class  of  Americans  to  populate  this  little 
city  and  the  stipulations  in  the  deed  from  Henry  Manning  to 
the  people  of  the  townsite  specified  that  negroes,  Mexicans, 


OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES 439 

Japanese  or  Chinese  were  excluded  to  a  certain  limit,  includ 
ing  all  the  business  section  and  the  better  part  of  the  resi 
dence  section,  and  that  any  property  sold  or  leased  to  such 
classes  would  revert  back  to  the  Manning  estate. 

It  developed  that  the  townsite  people  had  not  given  the 
Pacific  Realty  Company  deeds  for  this  business  property  as 
yet,  but  only  a  contract  for  a  deed  when  fully  paid  for,  and 
that  the  deeds  were  still  in  escrow,  for  the  full  sum  of  the  pur 
chase  price  had  not  yet  been  paid.  It  was  also  discovered 
that  the  Pacific  Realty  Company  had  signed  these  contracts 
over  to  the  Japs,  giving  them  quitclaim  deeds  for  all  of 
their  rights,  title  and  interest  in  and  to  said  business  lots. 
The  Japs,  supposing  they  would  have  no  trouble  in  making 
the  final  settlement  and  securing  the  full  title  to  the  property, 
had  gone  ahead  with  the  erection  of  the  building  and  put  in 
the  merchandise. 

The  next  day  George  Garner  received  this  telegram  from 
his  detective: 

"Pacific  Realty  Company  none  other  than  George  Brooks 
and  Robert  Harding,  who  are  out  upon  bond  pending  their 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  on  their  former  conviction  of 
fraud.  I  have  them  located,  but  they  don't  know  I'm  here  or 
who  I  am.  I  await  your  orders.  DICK." 

"Great  heavens!  Is  it  possible  that  they  are  bobbing  up 
again  ?  Are  we  never  going  to  be  rid  of  them  ?"  said  Garner, 
as  he  laid  this  telegram  in  front  of  Winters.  "I  am  tired  of 
those  fellows  hounding  us  around  all  the  time." 

Jack  read  the  telegram,  then  gave  a  hearty  laugh  and  said : 
"I  thought  they  had  had  enough,  but  it  looks  as  though  they 
were  still  ready  for  fight.  They  are  fullhanded  again,  for  they 
have  made  a  fine  cleanup  in  this  townsite  business,"  slapping 
his  desk  with  a  book  to  emphasize  his  words. 

"Yes,  but  I  can't  understand  why  they  had  to  play  such 
a  trick  upon  us  and  those  innocent  Japs  when  they  had  a 
good  enough  thing  out  of  it  as  it  was." 

"Oh,  that's  easy  to  see,  Garner.  They  had  it  in  for  us 
and  saw  this  chance  to  even  up  by  making  us  a  lot  of  trouble. 


430 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

I'm  thinking  the  real  fight  will  be  between  them  and  those 
Japs.  We  can  refuse  to  give  them  title  to  the  land  by  virtue 
of  the  deed  conveying  that  land  to  the  townsite  people  here 
and  Henry  Manning  can  reclaim  it,  but  we  will  have  trouble 
in  getting  those  fellows  out.  They  don't  understand  business 
and  they  will  fight,  for  they  won't  be  able  to  understand  that 
they  are  defrauded.  We  don't  dare  to  leave  them  there,  for  it 
would  ruin  the  town,  and  after  a  certain  length  of  time  if 
they  are  still  in  possession  of  the  property  their  claims  will 
become  valid,"  said  Winters,  lighting  a  cigar. 

"What  can  we  do  with  them?"  asked  Garner,  anxiously, 
for  he  was  not  willing  to  leave  them  there. 

"First,  we  must  serve  notice  upon  them  to  vacate,  as  they 
have  no  title  to  the  property.  The  second  thing  is  to  notify 
the  people  not  to  buy  a  thing  from  them  or  patronize  them  in 
any  way.  That  will  get  them  out  quicker  than  the  law." 

"But  what  of  the  improvements  they  have  put  upon  the 
land?  It  is  theirs,"  said  Garner. 

"I  realize  that  and  I  presume  we  will  have  to  buy  that  of 
them,"  said  the  lawyer,  "but  as  their  property  is  now  very 
much  reduced  in  value  by  their  being  in  there,  we  will  get  it 
at  appraised  prices,  regardless  of  what  it  cost  them,"  as  he 
leaned  back  in  his  spring  chair  and  puffed  the  smoke  from 
his  cigar  in  rings  above  his  head. 

"It  is  a  shame  to  take  advantage  of  them,  Winters." 

"Certainly,  but  they  were  partners  in  this  scheme  to  ruin 
the  town  by  agreeing  to  buy  the  property  and  not  letting  us 
know  it.  They  told  us  all  the  time  that  they  were  doing  the 
work  for  the  Pacific  Realty  Company." 

"I  see,  and  you  are  right  about  it.  What  can  we  do  with 
Brooks  and  Harding?  They  are  the  ones  back  of  it  all,  and 
they  are  the  fellows  who  should  have  to  pay." 

"I  know,  Garner,  but  they  have  evidently  been  acting 
under  the  direction  of  an  attorney  this  time.  They  have  some 
system  to  their  madness  now,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"Do  you  mean  that  they  have  put  one  over  on  us  this 
time?"  asked  Garner,  with  concern  written  all  over  his  face. 


OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES 431 

"It  looks  that  way  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  but  it  is 
different  with  the  Japs.  I'll  have  to  go  into  it  a  little  more 
before  I  can  express  my  opinion.  I  have  but  few  of  the  facts 
yet  and  there  may  be  a  loophole  somewhere  for  us  to  get  at 
them." 

"The  Japs  will  be  the  losers  then,  won't  they,  Winters?" 

"I  don't  know  how  much  the  Japs  have  paid  on  those  lots, 
but  if  they  can't  recover  it  from  the  Pacific  Realty  Company 
they  will  have  to  lose.  They  can't  get  deeds  from  us,  and  we 
shall  at  once  take  action  to  set  aside  the  contracts  for  deeds 
upon  the  grounds  of  a  violation  of  the  terms  and  conditions," 
he  said,  knocking  the  ashes  from  his  cigar. 

"What  answer  shall  we  give  Dick,  the  detective?" 

"Call  him  home  and  we  will  hold  a  conference,"  was  the 
reply. 

"Would  you  advise  a  boycott  against  the  Japs  ?" 

"Well,  we've  got  to  get  rid  of  them  some  way  and  starving 
them  out  is  about  the  quickest.  We  will  notify  Lew  Manning 
and  all  the  men  at  the  works  not  to  patronize  them.  I  will 
also  notify  the  town  people  and  we  will  smoke  them  out,"  was 
his  businesslike  answer. 

"You  know  that  the  Japs  the  contractors  employ  will  trade 
there." 

"Possibly,  but  their  trade  will  not  sustain  them  long,"  said 
Winters.  "We'll  notify  the  contractors  that  if  they  patronize 
the  Japs  they  will  not  get  to  bid  on  any  more  work.  We  can 
hold  them  back  that  way." 

Jack  Winters  at  once  sued  for  annulment  of  the  contracts 
and  at  the  same  time  the  Japs  sued  Brooks  and  Harding  for 
damages  and  fraud.  The  Japs  were  given  notice  to  vacate  the 
premises  and  when  the  time  came  the  sheriff  set  them  out. 
The  company  took  over  the  buildings  at  appraised  values, 
but  the  Japs  were  allowed  their  personal  property,  which  they 
boxed  up  and  took  away.  But  all  this  was  not  without  a  hard 
fight  and  weeks  of  trouble  and  worry.  The  Japs  were  recom 
pensed  somewhat,  for  the  courts  gave  them  judgment  against 
Harding  and  Brooks  for  damages  and  fraud.  They  also 


432 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

succeeded  in  capturing  some  money  in  the  bank  and  applied 
it  upon  the  damages  by  acting  on  the  advice  of  Winters,  the 
company  attorney. 

White  men  were  put  into  the  stores  and  new  stocks  of 
goods  were  brought  in.  The  town  flourished  and  was  care 
fully  guarded  against  a  repetition  of  such  impositions. 

:!c  >1<  :!<  ^<  >):  >K  >i<  =l<  ^  ^= 

"I  understand  that  you  are  having  more  troubles,  Mr. 
Winters,"  said  Governor  Samuels,  who  had  just  returned  from 
an  Eastern  trip. 

"Oh,  yes,  Governor.  All  big  enterprises  have  difficul 
ties,  but  to  win  victories  we  have  to  overcome  them,"  replied 
the  attorney,  laughing. 

"Yes,  but  it's  a  shame  we  can't  head  them  off  before  we 
get  to  them,"  said  the  Governor,  with  some  concern. 

"No  firm  that  I  know  of  has  been  able  to  do  that.  It 
would  take  a  regular  Solomon  to  avoid  them,  and  even  he 
had  his  troubles,"  thinking  the  Governor  was  hinting  at  his 
work  as  an  attorney  for  the  company. 

"Yes,  and  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  he  would  have  gotten 
into  more  if  he  had  had  such  men  as  Harding  and  Brooks  to 
deal  with,"  laughed  the  Governor. 

"They  are  bad  fellows,  and  I  hope  the  Supreme  Court 
affirms  the  action  of  the  Superior  Court,  which  convicted 
them.  If  it  does  we  will  have  them  out  of  our  way  for  a  long 
time,"  was  the  lawyer's  reply. 

"What  was  the  decision  of  the  lower  court?  I  was  so 
busy  in  the  East  that  I  did  not  get  the  details.  I  only  knew 
that  they  were  convicted." 

"They  received  ten  years  each,"  replied  Winters,  with 
satisfaction,  "for  defrauding  the  people  by  publishing  false 
statements  about  this  company  for  the  purpose  of  beating  the 
people  out  of  their  stock.  We  also  got  judgment  for  the  amount 
of  the  stock  we  captured  as  damages  done  the  company, 
but  we  agreed  to  reimburse  the  parties  for  the  loss  they  sus 
tained  in  selling  their  stock.  In  other  words,  they  get  their 
stock  back  at  the  price  they  sold  it  for,  or  we  will  keep  it  and 


OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES 433 

pay  them  the  amount  they  lost  in  selling  it.  We  can  resell 
this  stock,  which  will  clean  up  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars." 

Samuels  listened  intently  as  the  attorney  continued : 

"These  fellows  had  make  a  big  stake  in  selling  their  bogus 
stocks,  but  ill-gotten  gain  never  does  a  man  any  good,  which 
they  have  learned  to  their  sorrow.  I  have  seen  gamblers  clean 
up  a  fortune  at  the  business,  but  they  soon  lose  it  when  they 
put  it  up  again,  for  a  smarter  fellow  takes  it.  The  man  who 
wins  a  bet  invariably  bets  again  and  loses.  He  is  never  satis 
fied,  and  I  guess  God  intended  it  to  be  that  way.  A  man  who 
makes  his  stake  honestly  and  never  takes  any  chances  enjoys 
it.  These  fellows,  when  they  were  half  a  million  ahead, 
sought  to  make  a  million  and  lost  it." 

"How  much  stock  did  you  capture?" 

"Eight  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand  dollars'  worth," 
said  the  lawyer,  with  a  smile.  "Enough  for  us  to  bother  with, 
you  see." 

"What  did  they  pay  for  it?"  asked  Samuels. 

"As  near  as  we  can  get  to  it,  five  hundred  and  nineteen 
thousand  dollars." 

"Quite  a  loss  to  the  stockholders,  I  should  say,"  replied 
the  Governor. 

"I  am  a  little  bit  worried,  however,  Governor,  about 
another  matter  that  doesn't  look  just  right  to  me,  since  these 
things  have  happened  as  they  did." 

"What  do  you  refer  to,  Jack?"  he  asked,  wondering  if 
another  bar  was  down. 

"You  know  we  are  building  that  great  flume  from  the 
Yuba  river  first,  for  it  was  the  shortest  and  best  for  big  re 
turns." 

"Yes ;  what  of  that  ?"  put  in  the  Governor,  before  Winters 
had  time  to  explain. 

"Well,  Brooks  and  Harding  got  in  there  ahead  of  us  and 
got  a  lot  of  the  miners  to  sign  fake  contracts.  They  collected 
fees  of  them  in  our  name  and  agreed  to  handle  their  debris 
at  five  per  cent  where  they  paid  the  hundred  dollar  fee  in 
advance,  and  they  got  away  with  the  money." 

28 


434 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Yes,  I  remember,  that  was  not  our  fault;  but  what  of 
it?"  getting  nervous  again. 

"Well,  a  lot  of  those  fellows  have  refused  to  sign  up  with 
us,  and  since  I  have  been  thinking  it  over  I  begin  to  suspect 
another  trick.  In  your  absence  I  ordered  the  work  stopped 
until  the  contracts  were  signed,"  he  said,  cautiously,  to  see 
how  the  President  would  take  it. 

"What  kind  of  a  trick?"  asked  the  Governor,  anxiously. 

"I  don't  know  exactly,  but  I  think  it  is  time  to  send  a  de 
tective  up  there  and  find  out." 

"Just  so.  It  might  be  cheaper  to  spend  money  in  ad 
vance  than  to  spend  a  lot  in  court  later  on,"  replied  the  Gov 
ernor. 

"That's  the  way  I  looked  at  it.  It  might  be  those  fellows 
are  now  planning  to  wait  until  we  get  to  using  the  flume  and 
then  sluice  upon  the  sly  and  not  pay  us  anything.  I  think  I 
can  trace  the  hand  of  Brooks  and  Harding  up  there  again 
and  I  think  we  had  better  look  after  it." 

"What  do  you  suspect,  Winters?"  now  getting  excited. 

"Options  upon  some  of  those  mines.  I  have  said  enough 
now.  Get  your  man  and  let  us  get  him  up  there  at  work. 
We  won't  do  any  more  work  on  that  flume  until  we  get  all  the 
contracts.  We  are  now  at  work  on  the  American  river,"  he 
said,  striking  a  sulphur  match  and  lighting  his  cigar  stump 
which  had  gone  out  as  he  was  talking. 

"I  will  act  upon  your  advice.  Judging  from  our  past 
troubles,  I  think  it  best  to  keep  one  or  two  men  on  the  job 
all  the  time  from  now  on." 

"We  should  have  thought  of  that  sooner,  but  it  is  not  too 
late  yet.  Now,  have  your  man  find  out  everything  he  can. 
He  can  pretend  that  he  wants  to  buy  a  mine.  Let  him  take 
options  upon  those  not  signed  up  and  in  that  way  he  will  find 
out  whether  they  are  optioned  or  not.  If  they  will  not  option 
or  sign  up  you  can  bet  there  is  a  nigger  in  the  'woodpile'," 
said  the  lawyer. 

"What  course  would  you  pursue  then?" 

"Well,  one  way  would  be  to  call  upon  all  who  have  signed 


OVERCOMING  DIFFICULTIES 435 

and  tell  them  that  we  are  not  going  to  do  -any  more  work  until 
we  get  the  others  signed  up  along  the  Yuba  river.  We  can 
tell  them  we  are  now  working  on  the  American  river  flume 
and  we  will  not  touch  the  Yuba  again  until  we  get  all  con 
tracts  of  the  mines  signed  up.  We  can't  afford  to  begin  work 
with  only  a  part  of  them  signed  up.  We  must  know  what 
we  are  doing." 

"Very  well,  I  will  attend  to  it  at  once  and  we  will  soon 
know  which  way  the  land  lies,"  said  the  Governor,  as  he 
pressed  a  button  for  a  clerk  and  gave  orders  to  send  for 
Garner.  When  the  banker  came  he  gave  him  a  full  detail  of 
the  needs  and  suspicions,  and  Garner  sent  a  detective  out  at 
once. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS  WITH  THE  SWEET 

It  was  unpleasant  for  Myrtle  Winters  to  go  back  home 
from  the  camp  where  she  had  gone  to  see  Lew  Manning.  It 
seemed  to  her  as  if  she  could  not  go  back  and  face  all  that 
had  happened  as  a  result  of  the  misunderstanding  she  had  had 
with  her  father.  He  had  become  enraged  at  her  and  she  had 
allowed  herself  to  fly  into  a  passion.  Then  to  make  him 
ashamed  of  his  conduct  she  had  sought  to  force  Lew  into 
accepting  her.  By  taking  the  driving  horse  and  disappear 
ing  at  such  an  untimely  hour  of  the  day,  she  had  caused  a 
great  stir  in  the  city.  Furthermore,  she  was  the  cause  of  a 
wrong  suspicion  being  thrown  upon  young  Randall  which 
had  resulted  in  his  humiliation  and  false  imprisonment.  The 
horse  had  been  badly  hurt  in  the  runaway  and  the  family  car 
riage  wrecked.  Worst  of  all,  her  request  had  been  refused  by 
Lew  Manning. 

How  could  she  face  it  all?  She  thought  anything  in  the 
world  would  be  better  than  returning  to  Sacramento,  and  yet 
that  was  just  what  she  was  doing.  She  did  not  mind  so  much 
the  thought  of  being  with  Henry  Manning,  but  Lew  was 
along,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  turned  her  down  made  her 
want  to  shun  him  and  get  away  from  him  as  fast  as  possible. 
All  the  affection  and  fast  friendship  of  former  days  had  sud 
denly  departed  and  her  heart  seemed  barren  and  deserted  of 
all  love  and  feeling  for  him.  She  wished  his  seat  in  the  spring 
wagon  was  empty  and  she  was  sorry  she  had  rushed  off  so 
hastily  to  present  her  troubles  to  him.  It  was  the  old,  old 
story  over  again  of  anger  and  haste  causing  us  to  do  things 
which  afterwards  we  greatly  regret. 

What  should  she  say  to  her  father  when  she  reached 
home  ?  What  would  the  neighbors  think  of  her  ?  What  would 
James  Randall  think  of  her?  How  could  she  ever  return  to 
her  home  and  be  happy  again  ?  So  far  as  Lew  was  concerned, 

436 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS 437 

she  did  not  care,  for  she  considered  that  he  had  only  himself 
to  blame  for  the  results.  All  she  wanted  was  to  get  out  of  his 
sight. 

For  miles  they  sat  in  the  wagon  on  their  way  to  the  city 
and  said  nothing.  She  talked  occasionally  with  Henry  Man 
ning,  but  said  little  to  Lew.  Lew's  manner  was  changed  as 
well.  He  was  quiet  and  reserved,  and  did  not  care  to  talk  to 
his  father  about  the  company  works  as  he  usually  did.  Henry 
Manning  had  to  do  the  talking  for  them  all  and  he  found  it  no 
small  task.  Before  they  arrived  in  the  city,  Myrtle  wanted  to 
get  out,  but  he  refused  to  permit  it.  She  said  she  would  not 
stay  at  home  if  he  took  her  there,  and  finally  he  promised  to 
take  her  home  with  him  as  soon  as  the  troubles  were  ad 
justed  at  her  home.  Then  only  did  she  agree  to  go. 

It  was  a  source  of  great  regret  to  Mr.  Manning  that  this 
trouble  had  occurred,  for  he  greatly  admired  the  girl.  He 
had  ofen  hoped  that  she  and  Lew  might  continue  to  be  the 
companions  they  had  always  been  since  their  younger  days, 
but  now  their  friendship  seemed  to  have  vanished.  He  had 
hopes  that  if  he  took  her  to  his  home  that  this  storm  might 
pass  over  and  the  old  happiness  return  between  them.  That 
now  seemed  to  be  the  least  of  their  intentions,  however. 

She  wondered  what  Lew  was  going  to  the  city  for,  any 
way,  or  what  he  could  do  after  he  got  there.  But  Lew  said 
nothing.  He  seemed  to  be  greatly  concerned  about  what  had 
happened  to  Jim  Randall  and  wondered  how  things  could  be 
straightened  out  with  Jack  Winters  and  James.  Of  course, 
he  did  not  know  that  a  settlement  had  already  been  arranged, 
so  he  was  necessarily  much  concerned,  for  he  knew  that  Jim 
was  innocent  of  any  wrong  doing. 

At  length  they  reached  the  city  and  as  much  as  Myrtle 
disliked  going  to  her  home,  Henry  Manning  took  her  there 
first.  She  feared  a  scolding  from  her  father,  but  with  Mr. 
Manning  that  did  not  matter.  These  things  must  be  straight 
ened  up  and  he  would  see  that  the  girl  got  fair  play,  and  told 
her  so. 

There  was  a  crowd   awaiting  their  arrival,  but  none  of 


438 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

them  was  more  pleased  to  see  her  return  than  Jack  Winters. 
He  was  a  very  proud  man  and  it  was  hard  for  him  to  humble 
himself,  but  everyone  blamed  him  when  the  truth  was  known. 
He  was  cornered,  and  seeing  no  other  way  out  of  it,  he  de 
cided  to  make  the  best  of  it  and  try  to  restore  the  former  hap 
piness  of  his  home. 

To  show  his  determination  to  make  good,  he  was  the  first 
to  meet  her,  throwing  his  arms  around  her  neck  and  kissing 
the  scratches  upon  her  face  that  she  had  received  in  the  run 
away,  he  begged  her  forgiveness. 

"Did  Nigger  come  home?"  was  the  first  thing  she  asked, 
for  she  was  very  anxious  to  know  the  fate  of  the  family  driv 
ing  horse. 

"Yes,"  said  Winters;  "but  never  mind  about  the  horse.  I 
care  nothing  about  it  or  the  buggy,  just  so  you  are  not  hurt, 
my  dear." 

"Well,  I  didn't  think  I  was  hurt,  but  since  we  started  to 
ride  home,  I  feel  bruised  and  sore,  and  it  hurts  me  to  move 
my  left  limb.  My  ankle  feels  like  it  is  badly  sprained,  too, 
and  you  see  my  wrist  is  swollen.  I  don't  know  whether  I 
can  get  out  or  not." 

At  .that  the  elder  Manning  and  her  father  lifted  her  out 
of  the  wagon,  but  she  was  unable  to  walk.  Several  of  the 
bruises  were  swollen  badly  and  it  hurt  her  to  move.  They 
carried  her  to  the  room  where  she  had  spent  her  restless  and 
sleepless  night  the  evening  before. 

"Oh,  my,  how  good  my  room  looks,"  she  said,  as  they 
placed  her  upon  the  bed.  She  was  both  tired  and  sleepy  as 
well  as  sore  from  her  unfortunate  experience  in  the  runaway. 
"Now  just  let  me  be  and  when  I  get  a  little  rest  I  will  be  all 
right." 

She  did  not  realize  that  a  hot  bath  was  necessary  and 
that  her  wounds  needed  attention.  However,  a  nurse  was 
called  and  she  was  well  cared  for.  Then  she  fell  asleep,  for 
getting  for  the  time  being  all  of  her  troubles  and  sleeping 
soundly  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  night. 

The  Mannings  and  Mr.  Winters  had  a  long,  earnest  talk, 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS  439 

going  over  each  detail  of  the  case.  Lew  had  little  to  say 
and  let  the  others  do  most  of  the  talking,  but  at  last  he  said : 

"I'll  tell  you,  Jack,  the  happiness  of  your  child  should  be 
more  to  you  than,  any  of  your  personal  ambitions  or  mine. 
She  is  the  only  child  you  have  and  she  is  what  you  are  living 
for.  There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  break  your  friend 
ship  with  her  or  lose  your  temper  and  her  love,  and  especially 
over  me.  I  have  no  one  to  blame  for  losing  her  but  myself. 
I  let  my  business  wean  me  away  from  her,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  I  had  been  warned  about  it. 

"Myrtle  is  of  age  and  so  am  I.  We  will  both  do  as  we  can 
see  best  and  any  interference  will  only  cause  trouble  and  make 
matters  worse,  as  it  did  in  this  case.  You  did  wrong  in 
urging  her  about  me.  I  do  admire  her  and  would  give  my 
neck  for  her,  but  under  no  circumstances  would  I  marry  her 
unless  that  marriage  could  be  what  I  believe  it  should  be.  I 
could  be  happy  with  her  as  it  is,  but  she  would  not  be.  I  would 
not  blight  her  life  and  destroy  her  happiness  for  anything  in 
the  world.  At  the  present  time  there  is  absolutely  no  chance 
for  she  and  I  to  be  happy  together.  That  is  out  of  the  ques 
tion,  and  I  told  her  so,"  and  his  eyes  were  moist  and  his 
voice  choking  as  he  said  it. 

"Very  well,  then,"  said  Winters.  "We  will  drop  that  part 
right  now,  and  unless  you  and  Myrtle  can  fix  it  up  it  is 
ended,  for  I  will  say  no  more." 

"But  what  have  you  done  about  James  Randall,"  de 
manded  Lew.  "He  has  been  shamefully  treated  and  humili 
ated,  and  this  matter  must  be  adjusted  some  way." 

"I  have  that  matter  fixed  already,  Lew,"  he  said,  thought 
fully,  taking  the  signed  settlement  out  of  his  pocket  and 
handing  it  to  him.  Lew  read  it,  handed  it  back,  and  replied : 

"Well,  that  is  a  lot  for  Jim,  but  none  too  much.  I  would 
have  asked  a  great  deal  more  than  that  if  I  had  been  in  his 
place.  I  trust  that  it  was  not  simply  a  monetary  settlement, 
but  that  you  were  the  man  to  see  him  personally  and  apologize 
for  the  humiliation.  You  won't  miss  the  money,  for  you  have 
plenty  of  it ;  but  if  you  apologize  you  will  feel  better  after  it  is 


440 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

all  over.  Personally,  I  will  see  Jim  and  apologize  for  any 
part  I  have  had  in  it." 

"Apologize  to  Jim?"  demanded  Winters.  "I  have  sent  him 
a  written  apology  and  shall  send  him  a  written  invitation  to 
call  and  see  Myrtle  while  she  is  sick.  That  may  help  her  to 
get  her  confidence  back  again." 

"Go  a  little  slow  on  that,  Winters.  She  might  think  you 
were  trying  to  force  his  attentions  upon  her  now  and  make 
it  worse  again,"  said  Lew,  seriously.  "You  can  simply  say 
she  was  injured  in  the  runaway  accident  and  that  you  would 
like  to  see  him  personally  whenever  convenient.  That  will 
be  all  that  is  necessary,  and  he  will  call  if  he  thinks  it  prudent. 
Jim  is  no  fool  and  does  not  have  to  be  knocked  down  to  take 
a  hint." 

Winters  hesitated,  but  could  not  help  thinking  that  here 
was  once  again  where  Lew  saw  far  ahead  into  things.  He 
had  always  been  a  wonder  to  Jack  Winters,  although  he  was 
a  lawyer  himself  and  enjoyed  a  big  practice.  He  never  talked 
with  Lew  but  that  he  gathered  several  good  points  which 
were  helpful  to  him  in  his  practice. 

No  man  was  more  surprised  than  Jim  Randall  at  the  turn 
things  had  taken.  He  had  always  had  the  greatest  respect 
for  Jack  Winters  from  the  day  he  had  sent  the  twenty  dollars 
to  Myrtle  to  buy  the  suit  for  him,  and  he  loved  the  Mannings 
as  true  friends.  He  could  not  understand  why  Winters  should 
cause  his  arrest  and  become  his  enemy  so  quickly  without 
cause,  nor  could  he  see  why  he  should  be  released  and  so 
large  a  settlement  paid  him  in  such  a  short  time  nor  the  con 
ditions  connected  with  it. 

He  knew  nothing  of  Myrtle's  errand  to  see  Lew  at  the 
works,  nor  of  the  runaway  accident  and  her  injury.  Neither 
did  he  know  the  basis  of  the  settlement  his  attorney  had  made. 
In  fact,  he  was  in  the  dark  as  to  the  cause  of  the  whole  affair. 
On  one  point  he  was  clear,  though :  that  he  had  been  wrong 
fully  accused  and  imprisoned,  and  that  his  attorney  had  pro 
cured  his  release  and  the  settlement  money.  No  one  needed 
the  money  more  than  he  and  his  mother,  and,  furthermore, 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS 441 

he  knew  that  no  one  in  the  city  was  more  able  to  pay  it  than 
Jack  Winters,  for  he  was  very  wealthy.  Yet  his  pride  and  re 
spect  for  the  Mannings  and  Myrtle  caused  him  to  think  a  lot 
about  it,  and  to  wonder  if  it  was  the  right  course  for  him  to 
pursue  in  accepting  it.  He  talked  it  over  with  his  mother  and 
friends  and  they  all  assured  him  that  it  was  the  right  thing  to 
keep  it.  He  was  not  as  sure  of  it  himself  when  he  thought  of 
the  position  he  occupied  and  the  profession  he  had  chosen. 

On  the  following  day  he  was  again  discussing  it  with  his 
mother  when  the  door  bell  rang.  Mrs.  Randall  jumped  at  the 
sound,  for  she  was  quite  nervous  still  from  the  excitement  of 
the  previous  day.  When  James  was  released  the  relaxation  of 
nerves  almost  caused  her  to  collapse  and  there  was  danger 
yet  of  a  nervous  breakdown.  She  wrung  her  hands  and  cried : 

"Oh,  my !    I  wonder  if  they  are  coming  after  you  again  ?" 

"Be  quiet,  mother.  There  is  a  signed  settlement  that  says 
I  am  not  guilty,  so  they  can't  touch  me  now.  I  will  see  who 
it  is  and  what  they  want." 

When  he  opened  the  door  a  messenger  boy  asked : 

"Is  this  Rev.  James  Randall?" 

"It  is,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  "What  do  you  want  with 
me?" 

"I  have  a  message  for  you  from  Jack  Winters,"  said  the 
boy,  handing  him  a  sealed  envelope.  Mrs.  Randall,  hearing 
the  name  of  Winters,  gave  a  scream,  fearing  there  was  more 
trouble,  but  James  carefully  and  quietly  opened  the  note  and 
read: 

"REV.  JAMES  RANDALL, 
"City. 

"Dear  Sir:  When  it  is  convenient  I  would  like  to  have 
you  call  at  my  office,  for  I  feel  that  a  personal  apology  is  due 
you  for  the  indignities  I  placed  upon  you.  Myrtle  was  badly 
injured  in  the  runaway  of  her  horse  yesterday  and  is  confined 
to  her  bed.  Yours  respectfully, 

"JACK  WINTERS." 

When  he  had  finished  reading,  he  turned  to  his  mother 
and  said :  "There,  mother,  is  the  evidence  of  true  greatness  in 


442 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

that  man.  When  he  saw  that  he  was  in  the  wrong  he  sought 
to  make  it  right,  and  now  he  offers  to  apologize  to  me  for  the 
indignity  he  heaped  upon  me,"  and  he  handed  the  note  to  her. 

"Thank  goodness  for  that,"  she  said.  "I  am  glad  there 
is  no  more  trouble  in  sight." 

"You  know,  mother,  it  takes  some  courage  in  a  man  to  do 
that.  Most  men  are  so  little  and  narrow-minded  that  they  will 
not  admit  a  mistake  when  they  know  they  are  wrong  and 
everyone  else  knows  it,  too.  I  will  go  to  see  him  at  once  and 
accept  his  apology.  I  believe  yet  that  Winters  is  not  to 
blame  and  that  he  only  acted  on  a  hasty  supposition.  Lew 
had  fallen  out  with  Myrtle  and  he  thought  I  was  at  the  bot 
tom  of  it.  He  had  given  Mr.  Winters  that  intimation,  but 
I  had  seen  Lew  before  he  left  and  fixed  it  all  up  with  him. 
He  went  away  satisfied,  but  I  presume  that  Winters  did  not 
know  that.  Now  that  he  has  learned  the  facts,  I  suppose  he 
has  decided  to  do  the  right  thing  by  making  an  apology  as 
well  as  a  settlement.  I  am  very  sorry  that  Myrtle  was  injured 
and  if  it  is  agreeable  to  all  I  am  going  to  see  her." 

"No,  don't  do  that,  Jim,"  entreated  his  mother.  "You 
might  get  into  more  trouble,  and  I  couldn't  stand  another  day 
like  yesterday." 

"I  will  see  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  more  trouble, 
mother." 

"All  right,  Jim,  but  hang  on  to  that  money,  for  I'll  not  be 
able  to  work  again  for  a  month  after  this  spell,"  replied  his 
mother,  and  Jim  laughed  at  the  interest  she  took  in  the  check, 
yet  he  felt  sorry  for  the  trouble  he  had  made  her. 

"You  seem  to  be  delighted  over  that  check,  mother.  I  am 
not  so  proud  of  it  myself,  for  you  know  the  Bible  says,  'A 
good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches.'  I  haven't 
made  up  my  mind  definitely  yet  and  am  wondering  a  lot  about 
what  is  right  in  the  matter.  The  Lord  knows  we  need  it, 
and  yet  I  don't  want  to  keep  it  if  it  is  not  justly  due  me." 

"You  know,  Jim,  that  every  one  says  it  is  all  right,  and 
that  it  belongs  to  you,"  replied  the  mother,  convincingly. 

"That  is  true,  mother,  from  a  business  standpoint,  but  I 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS 443 

don't  know  whether  it  would  be  right  from  a  religious  stand 
point  or  not.  I  am  trying  to  make  up  my  mind  that  it  is, 
but  some  way  my  conscience  won't  let  me  feel  right  about  it." 

"I  know,  Jim,  that  you  would  not  do  anything  that  you 
didn't  think  was  right,  but  I  am  sure  in  this  case  that  it  is  all 
right  and  he  would  not  be  satisfied  if  you  returned  the  money. 
It  is  worth  every  cent  of  it  for  the  humiliation  that  we  have 
been  put  to.  But  do  as  you  think  best,  Jim." 

"All  right,  mother,  but  I  must  hurry  up  and  see  Mr. 
Winters.  It  wouldn't  be  the  proper  spirit  to  delay  it." 

Had  James  known  all  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  troubles,  he  would  have  been  a  little  more  reluctant  to 
see  Winters  or  Myrtle.  It  is  sometimes  better  for  us  that 
we  don't  know  all  the  facts  in  a  case  as  it  was  in  this  one. 
So  with  no  other  incentive  than  doing  what  he  thought  was 
the  best,  James  responded  to  Jack  Winters'  call  immediately. 

As  he  entered  the  development  company's  office  he  saw 
Lew  Manning  and  his  father  sitting  in  an  adjoining  room, 
but  they  did  not  see  him.  A  clerk  rapped  on  Jack  Winters' 
private  office  door  and  announced  that  James  Randall  was 
there.  He  was  admitted  without  further  ceremony  and 
Winters  came  forward  and  spoke  cordially: 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Randall.  I  thought  you  might  be 
going  out  of  the  city  and  I  wanted  to  apologize  to  you  before 
you  went  for  the  indignity  I  wrongfully  heaped  upon  you.  I 
was  mistaken  about  you  and  I  am  more  than  sorry.  Will  you 
accept  my  apology  and  shake?" 

"Mr.  Winters,"  said  Jim,  "my  presence  here  is  evidence 
that  I  am  willing  to  do  so,"  and  he  extended  his  hand  in  a 
hearty  shake,  and  then  continued:  "I  knew  that  you  had 
done  it  from  a  false  conception  of  things  and  I  tried  to  ex 
plain  at  the  time,  but  no  one  seemed  willing  to  accept  the  ex 
planation.  They  were  all  very  much  excited." 

"I  should  say  we  were,"  answered  Winters.  "I'm  glad 
that  it  did  you  no  more  damage  than  it  did,  Mr.  Randall.  It 
might  have  been  much  more  serious  for  a  man  in  your  pro 
fession." 


444 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  realize  that,  and  I  feared  it,"  said  James.  "I  knew  Lew 
could  clear  me,  so  that  is  why  I  had  the  telegram  sent  up 
there." 

"I  am  afraid  this  will  hurt  you  in  your  chosen  work,  but 
if  there  is  anything  I  can  do  to  help  you  overcome  it,  don't 
be  afraid  to  call  on  me,"  said  Winters,  with  a  determination 
to  show  due  repentance. 

"Thank  you,  Winters,"  said  James,  glad  to  find  that 
Winters  was  really  the  goodhearted  man  that  he  had  taken 
him  to  be.  "But  there  is  one  thing  I  am  not  satisfied  about," 
he  added. 

"What  is  that?"  asked  the  lawyer,  with  concern. 

"It  is  this  piece  of  paper,"  pulling  the  check  from  his 
pocket  and  handing  it  to  Winters. 

"It  is  worth  face  value,"  said  the  lawyer,  looking  at  the 
check,  "but  I  presume  you  are  not  acquainted  and  would  have 
some  difficulty  in  cashing  it,  so  I  will  just  indorse  it  for  you," 
and  taking  up  a  pen  he  wrote  his  name  on  the  back  of  the 
check  and  handed  it  back  to  James  with  the  reply : 

"Now  you  will  have  no  trouble  in  getting  it  cashed  if  you 
present  it  to  this  bank." 

"I  did  not  mean  that,  Mr.  Winters,"  said  James,  some 
what  amused  at  the  turn  things  had  taken.  "I  was  question 
ing  whether  it  was  the  right  thing  for  me  to  take  the  money 
or  not." 

"Great  heavens,  boy !"  replied  Winters,  with  a  laugh.  "You 
are  a  funny  fellow  and  too  conscientious  to  get  along  well 
in  this  world.  Most  fellows  would  be  trying  to  get  more." 

"I  want  nothing  but  what  is  right,  Mr.  Winters,  and 
would  rather  have  your  good  will  than  your  money,"  he  said, 
slowly. 

"You  can  have  both,  so  just  put  that  check  in  your  pocket 
and  go  get  the  money.  Take  better  care  of  that  hard  work 
ing  mother  of  yours  and  you  will  have  my  good  will  and 
more  so  than  if  you  returned  the  check  to  me,"  said  the 
lawyer,  quickly,  picking  up  his  cigar  stump  from  his  desk. 

"I  will  accept  it  upon  that  condition,  knowing  that  you 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS 445 

feel  that  way  about  it.  I  thank  you  deeply  for  it  and  for  your 
kind  offer  to  help  me  overcome  the  stigma  this  has  placed 
upon  me,"  was  his  reply. 

"If  you  ever  get  in  a  tight  place  and  need  help,"  said  the 
lawyer,  "don't  be  afraid  to  call  on  me,  for  I  am  at  your 
service." 

"Thank  you.  It  is  more  than  kind  of  you,  but  I  don't  de 
serve  it,  Mr.  Winters,"  replied  Jim. 

"Never  mind  that,  young  man,"  said  the  lawyer,  "you 
will  see  things  differently  when  you  get  to  be  as  old  as  I  am 
and  bump  up  against  a  few  more  hard  knocks." 

Just  then  Lew  Manning  entered  the  room  and  seeing  Jim 
there,  he  walked  over  to  him  quickly  and  took  his  hand. 

"I  want  to  beg  your  pardon,  Jim,  for  my  part  in  this  af 
fair.  I  guess  I  was  really  to  blame  for  it  all.  I  should  have 
told  Mr.  Winters  that  you  were  not  in  any  way  to  blame  before 
I  left,  but  who  would  ever  have  thought  things  would  turn 
out  as  they  did?  I  assure  you  that  I  never  did,  and  I  stand 
ready  to  make  my  part  right  with  you,  Jim,"  and  pulling  an 
envelope  from  his  pocket,  he  sealed  it  and  handed  it  to  James 
with  the  request  not  to  open  it  until  he  reached  home.  Lew 
was  just  ready  to  leave  and  he  knew  that  he  would  be  on 
his  way  back  to  the  works  before  James  could  reach  his  home. 

"Will  you  tell  me  all  about  this  affair,  Lew?  I  am  still  in 
the  dark  as  to  what  was  the  cause  of  the  trouble  and  the  cir 
cumstances  connected  with  it,  and  I  would  also  like  to  ascer 
tain  if  Myrtle  is  hurt  badly?" 

Lew  looked  at  him  and  saw  that  he  was  in  earnest  about 
his  request,  so  he  asked  him  to  step  into  a  side  room,  as  he 
did  not  want  to  relate  the  story  before  Mr.  Winters  or  take 
up  any  more  of  his  time.  So  in  the  presence  of  his  father 
Lew  related  the  following: 

"Well,  in  the  first  place,"  began  Lew,  "I  went  off  the 
other  evening  after  my  understanding  with  you  without  say 
ing  a  word  to  any  one.  I  had  left  the  impression  with  Mr. 
Winters  and  also  with  Myrtle  that  you  were  at  the  bottom  of 
the  trouble  between  Myrtle  and  I.  You  soon  convinced  me 


446 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

to  the  contrary  and  I  should  have  informed  them  of  it,  but  I 
was  in  a  hurry  to  get  away  and  I  didn't  do  it.  Everything 
would  have  been  all  right  anyway  if  it  hadn't  been  for  a 
quarrel  that  came  up  between  Myrtle  and  her  father,  who 
blamed  you,  while  she  defended  you.  They  both  became  very 
angry  about  it.  Just  what  was  said  I  don't  know,  but  she 
went  to  her  room  very  indignant  at  being  accused  of  these 
things  which  she  knew  were  not  true.  He,  thinking  he  was  in 
the  right,  refused  to  see  her  and  make  things  right  with  her,  so 
she  went  without  her  supper  that  night  and  in  the  morning 
when  they  awoke  she  was  missing,  together  with  the  driving 
horse  and  buggy. 

"They  naturally  supposed  that  you  and  she  had  gone  away 
together,  but  when  they  found  you  at  home  they  then  jumped 
to  the  conclusion  that  you  had  secreted  her  somewhere  and 
were  going  to  join  her  soon.  You  know  what  followed. 

"The  fact  was,  she  had  set  out  to  see  me  and  try  to  get 
things  fixed  up  with  the  satisfaction  of  her  father  foremost 
in  her  mind.  I  would  not  agree  to  it  on  those  conditions  and 
the  trip  was  a  failure,"  and  he  dropped  his  head  at  this  point, 
as  though  unable  to  say  more. 

Jim's  voice  was  soft  with  feeling  as  he  said:  "I'm  sorry 
for  you,  Lew.  With  all  my  heart  I  would  have  had  it  differ 
ently.  You  earned  that  prize  and  she  should  be  yours." 

"Be  that  as  it  may,"  answered  Lew,  clearing  his  throat, 
"she  is  not,  and  I  don't  see  any  way  to  make  it  any  different 
than  it  is  now.  I  have  won  a  fortune  in  dollars,  but  lost  a 
greater  one,"  and  his  eyes  were  flooded  with  his  emotion, 
while  a  choking  in  his  throat  prevented  him  from  saying  more. 
They  needed  no  one  to  tell  them  that  he  felt  his  loss  keenly. 

"But  how  did  the  accident  occur?"  asked  James,  anxious 
to  change  the  subject. 

After  a  moment,  during  which  Lew  gathered  himself  to 
gether  again,  he  said :  "You  see,  we  were  working  down  in  a 
canyon  and  the  road  ran  along  the  bank  above  us.  Presently 
we  heard  the  sound  of  a  horse  trotting  on  the  road  and  one 
of  the  men  climbed  up  to  see  who  it  was.  His  sudden  ap- 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS 447 

pearance  over  the  bank  frightened  the  horse,  and  he  wheeled 
quickly,  throwing  the  carriage  and  its  occupant  over  the 
bank  into  the  canyon  below  where  we  were. 

"If  it  hadn't  been  for  the  top  of  the  buggy  she  would 
have  been  killed.  The  top  was  wrecked,  but  it  saved  her 
life.  She  was  badly  scratched  and  bruised  as  it  was,  and 
though  she  did  not  seem  much  hurt  then  she  is  too  sore 
and  bruised  now  to  move.  I  would  like  to  have  you  go  with 
me  to  see  her  before  I  leave.  If  you  can  spare  the  time  we 
will  go  over  right  now." 

"I  will  be  pleased  to  do  so  if  it  will  not  annoy  her,"  said 
James. 

"She  requested  that  you  come  to  see  her  before  I  leave  for 
the  camp." 

"Very  well,  then,  we  will  go  over  at  once,"  said  James. 
He  walked  over  to  the  elder  Manning  and  said :  "I  am  grate 
ful  to  you,  Mr.  Manning,  for  your  help  in  my  time  of  need 
also.  I  don't  know  how  to  express  my  feelings,  but  I  will 
repay  you  every  dollar  you  have  expended  upon  me  if  you 
will  allow  it." 

"Now,  see  here,  Jim,"  said  Henry  Manning,  "I  took  you 
to  be  a  sensible  boy  or  I  wouldn't  have  done  anything  for 
you,  but  if  you  go  to  starting  anything  like  that  I  would  have 
to  change  my  opinion  of  you.  What  I  did  for  you  I  did  to 
help  you  and  I  knew  it  was  appreciated,  but  I  didn't  want 
it  to  be  appreciated  in  that  way.  I  would  be  greatly  offended 
if  you  ever  offered  to  return  it." 

"I  wanted  to  show  my  appreciation  for  your  kindness, 
Mr.  Manning,  but  I  guess  I'll  have  to  show  it  in  some  other 
way,"  said  James,  hardly  knowing  what  to  say. 

"We  knew  you  appreciated  it,  Jim,  and  we  have  faith 
enough  in  you  to  believe  that  you  will  show  it  in  your  life 
and  works,"  continued  Mr.  Manning. 

"If  I  don't  it  will  be  because  I  don't  know  how,  Mr.  Man 
ning,"  said  James. 

"Well,  will  you  come  out  and  see  us  while  you  are  here 
this  time,  Jim?" 


448 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I  should  be  happy  to  do  so  if  I  could  bring  mother  along." 

"You  couldn't  have  said  anything  that  would  please  me 
better  than  that,  Jim.  I  like  to  hear  you  speak  of  your 
mother  that  way.  She  needs  a  rest,  and  if  you  will  get  her 
I  will  be  pleased  to  take  you  both  out  home  for  a  week's 
rest." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Manning,"  replied  Jim,  more  than  de 
lighted.  "I  will  tell  mother  and  we  will  go  as  soon  as  you 
are  ready." 

The  two  young  men  then  started  to  the  Winters  home, 
but  the  nurse  would  not  permit  an  extended  visit  or  much 
conversation.  Myrtle  was  pleased  to  see  them  together  and 
friends  as  usual.  She  told  them  that  she  was  feeling  better 
and  would  get  well  sooner  by  knowing  that  they  were  friends 
rather  than  otherwise.  James  then  told  her  of  the  visit  he 
and  his  mother  were  to  make  to  the  Manning  ranch. 

Young  Randall  then  hurried  home  and  told  his  mother 
that  he  had  promised  to  take  her  to  the  country  for  a  week's 
visit  and  for  her  to  get  ready  as  quickly  as  possible.  He 
had  forgotten  all  about  the  check,  also  the  envelope  Lew  had 
given  him,  but  when  his  mother  asked  about  the  money  he 
pulled  the  check  from  his  pocket  and  told  her  about  his  offer 
ing  it  back  and  how  Winters  had  refused  to  accept  it  and 
had  actually  offered  to  assist  him  more. 

"Well,  I  am  truly  glad,  Jim,  for  we  surely  need  it,"  said 
Mrs.  Randall.  "If  I  go  with  you,  we  must  leave  something 
here  for  the  children  to  live  on  while  we  are  gone,  and  I  have 
no  money  ahead." 

James  had  two  grown  sisters  and  one  little  brother. 

"Very  well,  mother,"  he  said,  quickly.  "I  will  run  up  to 
the  bank  and  deposit  this  check  to  my  credit  and  bring  back 
one  hundred  dollars  for  our  use  and  for  theirs.  You  get 
ready  and  I  will  be  back  in  a  few  minutes." 

James  rushed  to  the  bank  and  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life  opened  an  account  there  in  his  own  name.  The  size 
of  it  would  make  any  preacher  wish  his  name  was  James 
Randall,  and  most  any  one  would  likely  be  willing  to  go  to 


EATING  THE  BITTER  FRUITS 449 

jail  for  almost  any  length  of  time  if  they  knew  they  could 
start  such  a  bank  account.  James  felt  like  the  richest  man 
in  the  country. 

"Let  me  have  one  hundred  dollars  in  cash,"  he  said  to 
the  banker.  "My,  how  good  those  gold  pieces  look,"  as  he 
took  them  off  the  counter,  while  the  banker,  who  knew  him 
and  the  circumstances  surrounding  this  money,  gave  a  hearty 
laugh. 

As  he  was  putting  his  bank  book  in  his  pocket,  he  found 
the  big  envelope  which  Lew  had  given  him.  He  had  already 
been  home  and  he  felt  that  there  would  be  no  harm  in  open 
ing  it  now,  but  as  he  turned  away  and  started  to  open  it,  he 
thought,  "No,  it  is  to  be  opened  at  home.  I  will  keep  my 
promise,"  and  he  put  it  in  his  pocket  again. 

On  his  way  home  he  passed  a  millinery  store  and  he 
paused  to  look  at  some  nice  hats  in  the  window.  Then  he 
went  inside  and  bought  one  of  the  very  best  that  he  thought 
would  be  suitable  for  his  mother,  with  the  understanding  that 
she  could  come  in  and  make  any  exchange  she  wished.  He 
then  stepped  in  next  door  and  purchased  a  good  substantial 
coat  for  her  and,  with  these  bundles  in  his  arms,  he  hurried 
home  to  heap  upon  her  the  first  blessings  he  had  ever  been 
able  to  bestow.  But  as  he  hurried  along  he  came  to  the  loan 
office  which  held  the  mortgage  on  his  mother's  little  home 
and,  while  it  was  small,  yet  it  was  more  than  she  had  been 
able  to  pay  taking  in  washing.  He  hesitated  a  moment, 
then  walked  in  and  asked  for  the  note,  taking  out  his  check 
book  at  the  same  time  and  writing  out  a  check  for  the 
amount.  He  then  took  the  note  and  the  mortgage  home 
along  with  the  hat  and  coat  for  his  mother. 

When  he  reached  there  he  was  so  pleased  at  his  mother's 
delight  with  his  presents  that  he  forgot  all  about  the  letter 
in  his  pocket.  Before  they  hardly  knew  it  Henry  Manning 
drove  up  and  they  were  soon  on  their  way  to  his  country 
home. 


29 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
How  THE  PLAN  WORKED 

Almost  five  years  had  gone  by  since  the  work  of  building 
the  great  waterway  was  begun.  The  old  surveyor,  Abraham 
Roe,  was  planning  a  trip  to  the  coast  to  see  his  young  friend, 
Lew  Manning,  and  to  ascertain  how  he  had  succeeded  with 
his  great  undertaking.  When  the  survey  was  first  made  the 
old  surveyor  had  been  there  and  lent  some  assistance,  but 
ill  health  had  called  him  to  his  home  in  the  East.  He  had 
been  too  feeble  to  resume  any  active  work  in  his  chosen  line, 
but  he  was  stronger  now  and  was  very  anxious  to  return 
to  the  West  and  see  how  this  wonderful  young  engineer  who 
had  such  great  ideas  was  getting  along  with  his  mighty  task 
of  building  the  greatest  aqueduct  of  the  ages.  He  chose  a 
time  when  he  knew  the  weather  was  favorable  and  that  his 
health  would  not  be  impaired  by  the  trip.  He  sent  word 
that  he  was  coming  and  Lew  was  ready  to  welcome  him  and 
show  him  the  success  or  failure  he  had  made  in  putting 
through  his  wonderful  undertaking.  He  was  at  the  station 
when  the  train  came  in,  ready  to  meet  his  old  friend,  the  man 
who  had  started  him  in  his  life's  work.  When  he  saw  Mr. 
Roe  descend  from  the  train  he  rushed  up  to  him,  and  said : 

"Welcome  to  our  city,  Mr.  Roe,"  but  the  old  man,  whose 
eyesight  was  dimmed  with  the  weight  of  years,  did  not  recog 
nize  him  as  the  boy  he  was  expecting  to  see,  for  five  years 
had  made  a  great  difference  in  Lew's  appearance. 

'And  who  might  you  be?"  he  asked.    "Someone  I  know?" 

"You  certainly  do,  Mr.  Roe.     This  is  Lew  Manning." 

"Is  it  possible  that  you  are  the  boy  I  started  out  seven 
or  eight  years  ago?  You  look  like  a  man  of  forty!" 

"I'm  the  lad,  Mr.  Roe.  If  I  have  aged  it  is  because  of  the 
great  load  I  have  had  to  carry  the  past  few  years." 

The  old  surveyor  laughed.  "I  guess  you  realize  now  that 
what  I  said  at  the  start  was  true,  don't  you?" 

450 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 451 

"I  don't  remember,  Mr.  Roe/'  was  Lew's  cunning  reply. 

"I  said  that  it  was  the  greatest  undertaking  of  the  ages, 
and  too  much  for  one  man  to  shoulder.  Don't  you  remember 
now?" 

"Oh,  yes,  but  I  have  handled  it  and  carried  the  burden 
almost  alone." 

"Well,  they  tell  me,  young  fellow,  that  you  have  actually 
made  it  a  success." 

"I  will  leave  that  part  of  it  for  you  to  say  when  you  have 
inspected  the  works,  Mr.  Roe.  This  much  I  will  say,  though. 
We  are  running  and  the  company  was  financed  by  us  from 
the  stock  sales  alone.  The  stockholders  are  all  satisfied  now 
and  are  receiving  a  regular  quarterly  dividend.  The  profits 
paid  them  are  almost  enough  already  to  equal  the  original 
investment,  and  we  are  hardly  started  in  this  great  work 
yet,  so  to  speak,"  and  he  felt  mighty  proud  of  these  facts. 

"I  knew  it  was  in  you,  young  man,  and  that  if  anyone 
could  put  it  through  you  were  the  man.  I  greatly  regretted 
that  my  health  prevented  me  from  staying  with  you  and  help 
ing  you  carry  it  out." 

"You  did  not  regret  it  any  more  than  I  did,  Mr.  Roe.  The 
information  you  gave  me  and  the  figures  we  gathered  were 
just  the  things  I  needed,  so  you  have  had  a  great  part  in  it 
after  all,"  said  Lew,  earnestly,  thinking  it  would  please  the 
old  man  to  know  he  had  had  something  to  do  with  the  under 
taking. 

"Well,  that  is  some  satisfaction  to  an  old  man  like  me.  I 
have  tried  to  do  something  worth  while  in  life,  and  if  I  have 
assisted  you  in  doing  this  great  work  I  feel  as  if  I  should 
die  satisfied." 

"Come  on,  Mr.  Roe.  Father  is  out  here  with  the  team 
and  we  are  going  to  take  you  for  a  trip  over  the  line  while 
we  know  you  are  able  to  see  it.  The  change  of  climate 
may  give  you  a  cold,  but  if  you  are  out  of  doors  and  stirring 
about,  I  don't  think  there  will  be  much  danger,"  said  Lew, 
in  a  solicitous  manner  towards  the  old  man  who  had  been 
his  inspiration. 


452 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

They  were  soon  comfortably  seated  in  Henry  Manning's 
closed  carriage  and  on  their  way  to  the  great  flumes.  As 
they  drove  along,  Lew  put  in  the  time  explaining  everything 
to  the  old  surveyor,  who  was  very  much  interested,  for  his 
life's  work  had  been  along  that  line  altogether. 

"This  is  the  great  ditch  which  comes  down  from  the 
American  river,  Mr.  Roe,"  said  Lew,  as  they  crossed  a 
bridge  built  over  a  cement  waterway  which  was  some  twenty 
feet  wide  and  ten  feet  deep.  It  was  built  so  that  the  water 
would  have  a  gradual  descent,  and  the  cement  was  troweled 
down  smooth,  so  as  not  to  offer  the  slightest  resistance.  At 
that  moment  thousands  of  inches  of  water  was  running 
through  it  at  a  very  rapid  rate. 

"You  notice  how  dirty  the  water  is  and  the  volume  that  is 
going  through  it,  Mr.  Roe?"  asked  Lew,  as  Henry  Manning 
stopped  his  team  on  the  bridge  so  as  to  get  a  better  look  at  it. 

"Yes,  but  does  it  carry  all  the  silt  and  debris?"  he  asked. 

"You  see  they  let  us  go  ahead  with  it,  after  all,"  replied 
Lew. 

"Yes,  but  does  it  do  the  work  successfully?"  he  asked,  as 
Lew  had  evaded  his  first  question. 

"It  does  it  so  nearly  that  the  commission  passed  it  as 
a  success  and  permitted  it  to  go  on,"  was  his  guarded  reply. 

"You  can  carry  it  all  right  in  this  kind  of  weather,  but 
what  do  you  do  when  you  have  high  water?"  asked  the  old 
surveyor,  for  he  had  observed  that  the  flume  was  not  large 
enough  to  handle  all  the  water  during  the  rainy  season. 

"We  shut  the  mining  down  then  and  turn  the  water  back 
in  the  regular  river  beds.  It  then  takes  care  of  itself.  The 
Debris  Commission  keep  men  on  the  job  all  the  time  and 
we  work  under  their  orders.  I  never  allow  any  one  to  take 
advantage  of  the  Commission,  which  would  put  us  in  bad 
repute  with  them,"  said  Lew,  with  an  air  of  satisfaction. 

"Do  the  miners  generally  work  with  you  and  treat  you 
square?"  asked  Roe. 

"Oh,  yes.  All  of  these  miners  are  stockholders  in  the 
company  and  are  interested  in  its  success.  They  know  they 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 453 

could  not  work  their  mines  without  the  use  of  our  flumes, 
and  it  would  have  cost  them  an  enormous  amount  to  build 
retaining  dams  to  work  their  own  mines  with,  while  by  just 
putting  part  of  that  money  in  our  flumes  they  get  the  same 
results.  We  promised  them  service  and  we  give  it." 

"Are  the  profits  from  the  mines  anything  like  what  you 
had  expected  to  receive?"  asked  the  surveyor,  wanting  to 
get  to  the  bottom  of  everything. 

"They  are  better  and  larger  than  we  expected,  Mr.  Roe. 
You  see,  we  have  not  yet  done  one-third  of  the  work  upon 
the  rivers  where  our  flumes  are  in,  and  we  have  already  re 
ceived  more  in  profits  than  the  thing  has  cost  us." 

"That  is  wonderful,  Lew,"  said  the  old  man,  after  a 
moment's  thought.  "But  did  all  of  the  men  sign  up  who 
have  mining  properties?"  for  there  had  been  trouble  about 
that  before  he  left. 

"No,  some  of  them  did  not.  They  undertook  to  beat  us 
by  using  the  flume  free  of  charge,  but  we  got  an  injunction 
under  the  anti-debris  law  and  had  a  few  of  them  arrested. 
That  settled  the  rest." 

"Do  you  get  a  correct  royalty  from  the  mines  or  do  some 
of  them  try  to  beat  you?" 

"Oh,  I  suppose  some  of  them  might  try  to  beat  us,  but  I 
never  give  them  a  chance.  We  keep  a  man  there  all  the  time, 
and  when  one  of  them  makes  a  cleanup  we  have  an  officer 
on  the  ground  as  well  as  a 'guard,  and  we  don't  give  them  any 
chance  to  beat  us.  We  learned  that  early  from  our  experi 
ences  with  Brooks  and  Harding." 

"Oh,  yes,  they  were  the  crooks  at  Dutch  Flat  that  Garner 
sent  up." 

"Those  were  the  chaps.  They  made  us  a  world  of  trouble," 
said  Lew. 

"Where  are  they  now?"  asked  the  surveyor. 

"Serving  time  again,"  said  Lew.  "Such  defrauders  as 
they  were  could  not  stay  out  long.  They  are  serving  a  ten- 
year  term  now." 

"I  suppose  so,  but  it's  too  bad.  They  could  have  been 
useful  men." 


454 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Yes,  sir,  those  fellows  made  a  million  dollars  in  their 
frauds  and  schemes,  but  still  they  were  not  satisfied.  They 
were  determined  to  ruin  us  and  our  great  enterprise  for  re 
venge,  but  we  got  them  every  time,  and  so  their  ill-gotten 
gains  never  did  them  any  good." 

"It  never  does,  Lew,"  answered  the  surveyor.  "I  am  an 
old  man  and  my  work  has  taken  me  among  the  mining  camps, 
around  saloons  and  gambling  halls.  I  have  seen  men  make 
great  fortunes  in  questionable  ways,  but  it  all  got  away  from 
them  because  they  stayed  by  the  game.  Do  you  know  that 
nearly  every  gambler  dies  a  pauper?" 

"I  have  heard  so,"  replied  Lew,  thoughtfully. 

"Well,  it's  a  fact.  There  are  plenty  of  ways  to  make 
money  honestly,  and  the  man  who  stoops  to  get  it  in  ques 
tionable  ways  always  gets  caught  in  the  end.  You  just  watch 
that  yourself,"  said  the  old  man. 

"I  will.  On  this  side  over  here,  Mr.  Roe,  you  can  see 
the  filling  going  on.  It  is  marvelous  what  a  change  is  tak 
ing  place  in  that  line." 

"Did  that  part  of  your  scheme  pan  out, .  too  ?"  for  he 
had  doubted  it. 

"Yes,  but  it  does  not  fill  as  quickly  as  we  counted  on.  It 
fills  all  right,  but  the  process  is  slow,  for  the  sediment  is  not 
all  deposited  where  we  are  filling.  The  great  volume  of  water 
carries  some  of  it  onto  other  lands,  but  it  is  a  success  and 
gives  a  fair  profit."  he  replied. 

"Did  you  get  all  the  land  owners  signed  up  to  have  their 
lands  filled?"  asked  Roe. 

"No,  we  got  but  very  few.  but  Governor  Samuels  got  a 
bill  through  the  legislature  which  made  it  compulsory.  Then 
we  bought  some  of  the  lands  and  filled  them.  We  are  now 
selling  them  at  good  prices." 

"Where  did  you  get  this  black  soil  that  covers  the  ground?" 

"Oh,  we  have  auger  pump  dredgers  working  ahead  of  the 
filling.  They  pump  half  mud  and  half  water  back  over  the 
filled  ground  and  the  water  settles  away  through  the  sand 
and  the  mud  is  deposited  there.  Believe  me,  it  is  rich  dirt, 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 455 

too.  Those  old  ponds  and  swamps  have  been  piling  up  with 
decayed  vegetation  there  for  ages,  and  it  makes  a  mighty 
good  top  soil." 

"What  did  you  do  with  that  bunch  of  Japs  who  bought 
up  a  lot  of  it?" 

"They  never  had  any  title  to  it.  Brooks  and  Harding  are 
serving  time  now  for  giving  them  fake  deeds.  We  just  con 
demned  the  land  and  took  it,  and  the  Japs  had  to  get  out. 
It  was  all  they  could  do,  for  we  refused  to  employ  them  or 
patronize  them  in  any  way,"  he  laughed. 

"Did  they  lose  the  money  that  they  put  into  it?" 

"Yes,  they  lost  the  money,  but  their  attorneys  put  Brooks 
and  Harding  where  they  will  not  bother  us  any  more  until 
we  get  this  business  all  cleaned  up.  That  is  why  we  lent  a 
hand  in  prosecuting  them.  We  wanted  them  out  of  the  way," 
said  Lew,  with  satisfaction. 

"How  many  of  the  streams  are  you  working  now,  Lew?" 
asked  Mr.  Roe,  coming  back  to  the  engineering  project. 

"Two,  so  far,  the  Yuba  and  the  American  rivers.  These 
were  the  easiest  reached  and  could  be  put  into  operation  with 
the  least  money.  We  expect  to  work  the  Bear  and  Feather 
river  districts,  though,  as  soon  as  we  can  get  to  them.  We 
can't  take  on  too  much  at  once.  It  has  been  an  awful  strain 
upon  us  as  it  is,  and  took  a  tremendous  lot  of  work  to  get 
even  those  two  in  operation.  I  presume  it  will  be  some  time 
before  we  get  to  the  other  districts." 

"Why  did  you  start  two  at  the  same  time,"  with  consid 
erable  interest. 

"Because  we  could  not  help  it,"  replied  Lew.  "We  wanted 
to  work  the  Yuba  river  district  first,  and  had  started  the  flume 
when  you  were  here,  but  Brooks  and  Harding  got  in  there 
ahead  of  us,  defrauded  the  miners  and  got  a  lot  of  options 
on  those  mines.  Then  the  owners  refused  to  sign  up  with  us 
and  we  had  to  do  something  to  bring  them  to  time.  So  we 
had  to  shut  that  work  down,  after  it  had  gotten  well  under 
way,  and  go  to  the  American  river.  We  made  the  announce 
ment  that  we  would  do  nothing  more  at  the  Yuba  river  dis- 


456 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

trict  until  we  had  the  contracts  and  the  options  upon  the 
mines  themselves.  We  told  them  that  we  had  done  enough 
work  for  Brooks  and  Harding.  But,  do  you  know,  they 
thought  we  were  fooling?" 

"However,  we  moved  every  hoof  and  all  of  the  tools  over 
to  the  American  river  and  began  the  work  there.  Those 
miners  never  moved  a  peg  for  nearly  six  months,  and  by  that 
time  we  had  our  grading  done  and  the*  work  well  under  way 
at  the  American  river.  When  we  began  to  pour  concrete  into 
the  forms,  they  saw  that  we  meant  business  and  begged  us 
to  come  back  to  the  Yuba  river." 

"I  suppose  you  did  so  then?"  asked  Roe. 

"Not  on  your  tintype,"  said  Lew,  emphatically.  "We 
simply  told  them  that  whenever  they  presented  us  with  all 
of  the  contracts,  with  a  price  fixed  for  the  mines  and  an  option 
giving  us  the  right  to  buy  any  and  all  of  them  if  we  wished, 
we  would  build  their  ditch,  but  not  until  then.  We  were  tired 
of  fooling  with  the  Brooks  and  Harding  crowd.  They  then 
promised  us  the  contracts  if  we  would  come  and  get  them." 

"That  is  interesting.  What  did  you  do?"  queried  the  old 
man. 

"We  told  them  'nothing  doing,'  that  we  had  been  after 
those  contracts  several  times  and  did  not  get  them.  Now 
if  they  wanted  our  business  they  must  get  us  those  contracts 
and  bring  them  to  us  all  signed  up,  for  there  would  be  noth 
ing  doing  till  we  did  get  them.  We  gave  them  the  names 
of  the  mines  we  wanted  and  told  them  to  go  to  it. 

"Well,  they  got  busy  then  and  got  them  for  us,  but  by 
that  time  we  had  been  off  that  work  nine  months.  When  we 
secured  the  contracts  we  were  under  obligations  to  go  back 
there  and  go  to  work,  and  we  did  so,  but  we  kept  the  bulk  of 
our  men  on  the  American  channel  and  completed  it  first,  for 
the  men  up  that  way  had  stood  firmly  by  us  all  along  and  we 
could  not  go  back  on  them. 

"We  brought  the  other  fellows  to  time  all  right.  I  think 
the  most  of  them  were  willing,  but  they  had  sold  the  options 
to  our  enemies  and  were  afraid  of  getting  into  trouble  again 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 457 

if  they  undertook  to  cancel  the  fake  options.  When  they  saw 
that  they  were  beat  and  that  there  was  nothing  else  to  do,  they 
took  it  into  court  and  had  the  fake  options  set  aside.  That 
gave  us  a  clear  field." 

"How  did  you  make  out  on  your  townsite?  You  were 
having  some  trouble  with  that  when  I  went  East" 

"We  did  fine  after  we  took  it  into  our  own  hands,  but 
Harding  and  Brooks,  through  their  cunning  agents,  had  car 
ried  off  the  plum  at  Sedrick.  They  cleaned  up  a  fortune 
there  and  unloaded  a  lot  of  Japs  on  us  that  caused  us  no  end 
of  trouble.  But  Jack  Winters  had  drawn  the  townsite  plat 
and  had  made  the  stipulations.  It  stood  in  the  court  and 
we  cleaned  them  out,  but  it  killed  the  town,"  said  Lew,  regret 
fully. 

"You  say  you  have  done  well  on  the  other  townsites?" 
asked  Mr.  Roe. 

"Quite  well.  We  keep  realty  agents  out,  and  handle  the 
lots  ourselves.  In  that  way  we  make  the  money  instead  of  the 
fake  outfits.  The  real  estate  department  alone  has  cleared 
the  company  more  than  a  million  dollars  in  cash,  and  the  lands 
we  have  now  under  option  will  bring  in  several  times  that 
amount  to  us.  We  are  selling  those  swamp  lands  as  fast  as 
they  are  filled  for  as  high  as  three  hundred  dollars  per  acre, 
with  water  rights." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  water  rights?"  asked  the  engineer. 

"We  have  agreed  to  keep  these  flumes  for  permanent  water 
and  irrigating  ditches,  and  when  we  sell  the  land  we  agree  to 
furnish  irrigating  water  for  so  much  per  acre  or  season, 
whichever  way  they  want  to  buy  it.  These  water  rights 
are  permanent,  for,  with  these  ditches,  we  can  furnish  water 
enough  for  this  whole  valley.  If  we  can  sell  all  the  water  we 
have,  why  that  will  be  a  fortune  for  us  alone.  Nothing  better 
could  be  asked  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  time  will  come 
when  it  will  all  be  in  demand." 

"What  did  you  make  out  of  the  water  power  that  you 
were  talking  so  much  about  when  I  left  here?"  asked  the 
surveyor. 


458 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Do  you  see  those  power  lines  yonder,  Mr.  Roe?"  point 
ing  across  the  country  to  a  continuous  string  of  cable  towers. 

"Yes,  what  are  they?"  he  asked. 

"Well,  they  are  our  power  transmission  lines.  We  have 
a  great  power  plant  at  Sedrick,  which  we  thought  at  the  time 
would  be  larger  than  we  would  ever  need,  but,  gracious  me, 
it  was  entirely  too  small  for  our  demands  inside  of  a  year 
after  we  had  started.  Now  we  run  our  cement  plant,  the  saw 
mill  and  all  of  our  machinery  with  electricity.  We  built  a 
second  big  plant,  which  conveys  power  to  the  city  of  San 
Francisco  and  other  places,  and  even  then  it  can't  furnish  all 
the  power  and  light  they  call  for.  We  are  now  building  the 
third  plant  along  the  American  river.  This  item  is  also  a 
source  of  very  great  profit  to  the  company  and  will  be  a  per 
manent  thing,  too,  for  electricity  is  the  coming  power,"  said 
Lew,  standing  up  in  the  carriage  as  though  he  was  going 
to  get  out. 

"It  is  the  power  now,  Lew,"  said  the  surveyor.  "It  is 
used  all  over  the  East  for  almost  everything,"  slapping  Lew 
on  the  shoulder. 

"I  know,"  replied  Lew.  "I  keep  tab  on  everything  like 
that  through  the  magazines  and  I  know  that  is  so." 

"When  do  you  get  time  to  read  the  magazines  with  all  this 
work  on  your  hands,  young  fellow?"  asked  the  surveyor,  in 
astonishment. 

Lew  laughed  as  he  said,  "They  are  sent  to  my  office  and 
to  the  camp.  I  read  them  every  night." 

"And  then  do  your  work  in  the  daytime?"  asked  Roe, 
greatly  surprised. 

"I  used  to  do  the  work,  Mr.  Roe,  but  now  I  just  see  that 
the  other  fellow  does  it  right.  I  don't  try  to  do  much  of  it 
myself  any  more,  but  I  am  the  General  Manager  of  this  com 
pany  and  I  have  department  and  division  men  whom  I  can 
trust  to  see  that  the  work  is  done.  If  they  don't  do  it  their 
time  is  up  and  someone  else  is  put  there  who  will  do  it." 
answered  Lew,  with  considerable  independence. 

The  other  smiled  as  he  said,  "You  finally  learned  that,  did 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 459 

you?  That  is  right,  but  what  is  going  on  over  there  in  the 
hills  ?  It  looks  like  men  operating  a  giant,"  said  the  surveyor. 
Both  Lew  and  his  father  laughed. 

"Dad  is  experimenting  over  there,  Mr.  Roe." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  demanded  the  engineer, 
not  seeing  the  joke. 

"Dad  got  the  idea  into  his  head  that  he  could  remove  some 
of  those  hills  from  his  farm  and  that  he  could  wash  the  dirt 
down  in  the  low  places  and  make  it  all  level,  so  he  brought 
a  pipe  of  water  over  there  and  is  trying  it  out,"  said  Lew, 
with  a  smile. 

"Quite  an  idea,  but  does  it  work?"  asked  Roe. 

"Work?  Of  course  it  does.  It  is  the  quickest  way  of 
leveling  ground  that  you  ever  saw,  but  it  is  a  little  expensive 
for  the  poor  man,  for  it  costs  a  lot  to  fit  up  for  it." 

"What  won't  you  do  next !"  exclaimed  the  surveyor.  Then 
he  remarked,  "It  must  take  a  great  many  men,  as  well  as 
brains,  to  handle  a  proposition  like  this,  with  so  many  de 
partments  and  lines  of  work." 

"Oh,  it  does,  Mr.  Roe.  I  suppose  we  have  five  hundred 
men  upon  our  pay  roll,  but  with  such  men  to  help  me  as  Gov 
ernor  Samuels,  George  Garner,  Kramer  and  Winters,  we  are 
able  to  handle  them  all  right,"  replied  Lew,  seating  himself 
again  beside  Mr.  Roe. 

"You  were  fortunate  in  getting  Governor  Samuels.  I 
would  never  have  thought  of  getting  him  interested  in  it," 
said  Roe. 

"I  did.  I  had  him  picked  out  long  before  anyone  else 
thought  of  him,  and  I  went  and  induced  him  to  come  in  with 
us,  too,"  said  Lew,  slapping  the  engineer  on  the  arm  with  great 
satisfaction. 

"Let  me  tell  you  something,  Lew.  You  are  the  only  fellow 
in  the  country  who  could  have  ever  put  this  thing  through. 
No  other  man  would  have  dared  to  undertake  it,  and  I  believe 
I  told  you  that  at  the  time.  Even  your  father  here  said  you 
were  seeing  things,  but  I  guess  he  sees  them  pretty  plainly 
now  himself,  don't  you,  Henry?" 


460 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"Well,  education  does  great  things  in  this  day  and  age  of 
the  world,"  said  Henry  Manning.  "I  never  had  much  of  a 
chance  for  an  education  myself,  but  the  two  boys  have  had 
the  best  that  is  going.  It  did  all  seem  to  be  a  dream  to  me 
when  Lew  first  spoke  of  it,  but  I  can  see  now  that  he  knew 
what  he  was  doing  all  along." 

"It  was  too  big  for  me,  even,"  said  the  surveyor,  "but  Lew 
went  at  it  just  as  though  it  was  an  every  day  occurrence, 
and  he  was  so  anxious  to  get  at  it  that  he  acted  as  though 
he  was  afraid  some  one  would  steal  his  idea.  I  just  laughed 
about  it  and  told  him  to  go  slow,  for  if  he  waited  ten  years 
the  job  would  still  be  waiting  for  him.  The  ten  years  are  not 
up  yet  and  he  has  it  in  operation.  I  have  to  take  my  hat  off 
to  you,  young  fellow,"  slapping  him  affectionately  on  the 
shoulder. 

During  all  this  time  Henry  Manning  had  been  driving  from 
place  to  place,  as  Lew  showed  the  old  engineer  what  was 
going  on  and  what  had  been  done ;  that  several  thousands  of 
acres  of  swamp-lands  had  been  redeemed;  snakes,  frogs,  in 
sects  and  disease  had  been  driven  away ;  millions  upon  millions 
of  gold  was  being  recovered  from  the  gravel  mines,  and  plans 
were  being  laid  to  work  all  the  gravel  beds  in  the  state.  The 
lands  made  worthless  by  the  dredgers  had  been  leveled  and 
filled  with  the  sediment  from  the  mines  and  thousands  of 
acres  of  valley  lands,  which  had  been  idle  before,  were  now 
worked  profitably,  for  water  in  abundance  was  now  available. 

"Here  on  your  right,  Mr.  Roe,"  continued  Lew,  "is  Sproul- 
ville.  It  is  one  of  our  new  towns,  named  after  John  Sprouls, 
who  came  with  us  from  Missouri.  We  will  drive  up  that  way, 
for  I  want  you  to  see  the  town  and  one  of  our  power  plants 
which  is  located  there.  I  think  you  will  find  the  arrange 
ment  very  unique,  for  we  laid  everything  off  according  to  the 
peculiar  ideas  of  Mr.  Sprouls,  who  was  a  backwoods  mining 
prospector  in  Missouri.  While  he  is  a  good  fellow  in  many 
respects,  yet  he  is  crude  and  illiterate,  and  to  hear  him  talk 
you  would  think  he  was  the  only  man  on  the  job  and  that  he 
was  'it.'  He  was  with  father  and  the  rest  in  the  Golden  West 


'Here  on  the  right,  Mr.  Roe,"  said  Lew,  "is  Sproulville."     Page  460. 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 461 

Mining  Company  and  made  some  money  in  it,  as  they  all 
did,  for  that  is  one  of  the  few  quartz  mines  which  have  made 
good  and  paid  dividends." 

"Was  that  the  mine  I  examined  for  you,  Henry?"  asked 
the  engineer. 

"Yes,  and  what  you  said  about  it  proved  to  be  true,  too," 
replied  Manning. 

"Well,"  continued  Lew,  "Sprouls'  portion  of  it  sort  of  gave 
him  the  bighead  and  he  has  simply  pestered  the  life  out  of  us 
to  do  something  for  him,  or  give  him  a  chance  to  do  some 
thing  for  himself.  When  we  laid  out  this  townsite  he  wanted 
to  handle  it,  so  we  thought  that  would  be  a  good  way  to  get 
rid  of  his  arrogance.  We  didn't  expect  much  of  a  town  here, 
so  we  just  turned  it  over  to  him,  and,  whether  you  would  be 
lieve  it  or  not,  he  has  made  a  big  thing  out  of  it  for  him 
self  and  us,  too.  He  has  all  lines  of  business  represented 
here  and  he  is  connected  with  most  of  them  in  one  way  or 
another. 

"His  lack  of  education  and  business  ability  has  kept  him 
from  having  much  to  do  with  the  running  of  the  various 
enterprises,  but  the  fact  that  he  is  connected  with  them  satis 
fies  him  and  he  likes  to  tell  about  it.  We  humor  him  and 
just  pat  him  on  the  back  and  tell  him  he  is  'it.'  He  has  been 
elected  mayor  of  the  town  and  you  could  no  more  get  him 
to  think  of  leaving  here  than  of  flying.  He  seems  to  think 
that  Sproulville  is  ahead  of  San  Francisco.  He  is  a  great 
talker  and,  as  that  is  what  it  takes  to  sell  town  lots  and  real 
estate,  he  is  making  it  go.  I  want  you  to  meet  him  when 
we  get  there." 

Mr.  Roe  listened  to  Lew  with  much  interest,  and  then 
said,  "I  have  heard  of  that  fellow.  He  is  quite  a  coward,  yet 
he  is  always  telling  what  he  has  done." 

"That's  the  fellow,  Mr.  Roe.  He  can  beat  anybody  on 
the  coast  telling  yarns,  and  I  was  about  to  say  that  he  could 
tell  more  than  all  the  men  we  have  in  our  employ  combined. 
I  wanted  to  tell  you  these  things  about  him  so  you  will  under 
stand  him  if  he  gets  started  talking." 


463 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

"I've  met  that  kind  of  fellows  before,  Lew.  They  never 
worry  me." 

"Here,  Mr.  Roe,"  said  Lew,  pointing  to  their  left,  "is  a 
piece  of  land  that  was  very  rough.  I  don't  mean  hilly,  but 
the  soil  was  thin  and  the  rock  cropped  out  in  some  places, 
while  there  was  hardpan  in  others.  It  was  worthless  the  way 
it  was,  but  father  thought  it  could  be  brought  out  all  right, 
so  we  just  threw  a  bank  up  on  the  lower  side  and  turned  the 
water  on  it,  making  an  overflow  through  a  rocky  point  right 
over  there,  and  you  see  the  result?" 

"Is  that  a  fact?"  asked  the  engineer,  in  astonishment. 
"Why,  that  is  about  as  good  looking  a  piece  of  land  as  there 
is  round  here." 

"It's  just  as  good  as  any  of  it,"  said  Henry  Manning,  who 
had  been  listening  with  some  pride,  for  it  was  his  land  and 
his  suggestion  that  had  made  it  good. 

"Yes,  sir,"  continued  Lew,  "I  believe  we  can  take  any  of 
this  poor  land  and  make  it  good  by  this  redeeming  process. 
There  is  another  thing  about  it  that  is  interesting:  this  filling 
never  came  from  the  mines.  You  see  that  it  is  clay  soil, 
don't  you?" 

"Perhaps  it  is.  I  can't  see  well  enough  to  tell,  but  where 
did  it  come  from?"  asked  the  old  man  curiously. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  said  Lew.  "While  we  were  getting 
ready  to  erect  this  power  plant,  we  put  in  that  pipeline  you 
see  coming  down  the  side  of  the  hill  yonder,"  pointing  in  the 
direction.  "We  had  it  all  in,  but  were  delayed  in  getting  our 
machinery  for  the  plant.  Right  over  there  near  the  townsite 
stood  a  great  clay  and  gravel  hill.  Father  suggested  that  we 
fill  up  his  land  down  here  while  we  were  waiting  for  the  ma 
chinery  by  washing  away  that  hill.  We  all  took  it  as  a  joke 
at  first,  but  after  we  got  the  giant  set  up  you  ought  to  have 
seen  that  hill  disappear.  We  put  four  big  plows  to  work 
loosening  up  the  ground,  and  that  giant  just  washed  the  dirt 
away  as  fast  as  the  plows  could  loosen  it  up. 

"We  took  it  off  to  the  bedrock,  and  that  uncovered  shale 
enough  for  millions  of  barrels  of  cement.  We  had  been  plan- 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 463 

ning  on  putting  the  new  cement  plant  up  near  the  old  one, 
but  when  we  discovered  this  shale  we  took  some  of  it  up  to 
the  old  plant  and  tested  it.  We  found  it  to  be  as  good  as 
any  we  had,  so  we  are  now  building  our  second  plant  here. 
We  also  found  cobble  stones  and  float  enough  to  build  all 
the  foundations  for  our  building,  and  also  for  all  the  houses 
in  town.  It  was  a  great  blessing  to  us  and  to  the  town.  Now, 
with  our  power  plant  in  operation,  and  our  second  cement 
plant  going  in  here,  this  is  going  to  make  the  best  town  we 
have  along  our  lines." 

"How  is  your  cement  ?"  inquired  the  engineer.  "Is  it  good 
enough  to  go  on  the  market  and  compete  with  othef  cements?" 

"Yes,  indeed,  Mr.  Roe.  We  will  put  it  up  any  time 
against  the  German  Portland  cement.  We  have  shale  enough 
right  here  in  California  to  supply  the  world  with  cement. 
There  is  a  big  demand  for  it  in  San  Francisco,  Sacramento, 
Stockton  and  other  places.  We  have  even  had  inquiries  from 
Portland,  Oregon,  but  we  cannot  supply  many  outside  orders 
until  we  get  our  new  plant  in  operation.  You  see,  we  will 
have  railroad  connections  with  our  second  plant  and  we  can 
supply  the  commercial  trade  from  that  point." 

"May  I  ask  where  you  get  the  water  in  that  pipeline  for 
your  power  plant  here?"  asked  the  perplexed  surveyor. 

"We  take  it  out  of  the  river  in  an  open  ditch,  which  is 
far  enough  up  to  give  us  a  three  hundred  foot  drop  here. 
Then  we  take  it  into  a  large  pipe  and  bring  it  down  the  side 
of  that  hill  yonder.  That  gives  us  some  power,  if  you  please." 

"I  should  say  so.  You  certainly  use  everything  to  advan 
tage  and  you  seem  to  have  a  good  understanding  of  all  these 
things." 

"Yes,  Mr.  Roe,  we  have  been  fortunate  in  turning  every 
thing  into  money,  it  seems.  Every  enterprise  connected  with 
the  California  Development  and  Mining  Company  is  making 
us  money.  The  way  we  are  getting  strung  out  at  lumbering 
is  a  wonder,  too.  We  put  in  the  first  saw  mill  to  saw  just 
what  lumber  we  needed  for  our  work.  It  was  a  big  mill  and 
we  soon  saw  that  we  could  saw  more  lumber  than  we  needed, 

30 


464 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

so  we  began  supplying  the  townsites  with  building  lumber. 
Then  it  grew  into  a  regular  commercial  business  and  now  we 
can  sell  all  the  lumber  we  can  get  out.  We  float  all  of  this  lum 
ber  down  the  flume  from  the  mill  to  the  valley,  which  saves 
much  in  hauling. 

"There  is  also  another  thing  which  is  to  the  advantage  of 
the  company,  and  that  is  that  we  have  closed  the  option  upon 
about  one-third  of  the  gravel  mines  which  are  unworked  yet. 
Some  of  them  did  not  have  water  and  could  not  get  it,  so 
we  just  bought  their  gravel  pits  outright,  but  we  haven't 
worked  any  of  them  yet." 

"If  they  couldn't  get  water  to  work  them,"  said  the  sur 
veyor,  in  surprise,  "where  are  you  going  to  get  it?" 

"Oh,  that  is  easily  answered,  Mr.  Roe.  We  have  a  clause 
in  all  our  contracts  stating  that  when  we  have  finished  the 
working  of  any  one  mine  we  get  the  water  right  that  they  had 
been  using.  They  are  done  with  it  when  their  mine  is  fin 
ished,  so  we  put  that  in  the  contract  to  keep  them  from  hold 
ing  up  the  other  fellow  who  had  no  water  for  piping.  None 
of  them  objected  to  it,  for  they  were  anxious  to  get  their 
gravel  worked  and  it  was  a  great  blessing  to  us  and  to  the 
miners  who  had  no  water. 

"Then  some  of  the  men  who  owned  gravel  pits  had  no 
money  for  operation,  so  we  just  bought  them  out.  Now,  that 
nearly  all  the  men  have  sluiced  who  are  going  to,  we  mean 
to  get  busy  and  pipe  off  the  gravel  pits  we  own.  There  is 
where  we  will  make  our  big  killing.  All  the  pits  we  have 
piped  off  have  made  their  owners  big  money  and  the  ten  per 
cent  has  been  a  fine  income  for  us.  We  are  not  out  a  dollar's 
expense  for  them,  except  to  keep  a  watchman  on  the  ground 
to  be  sure  that  no  one  pipes  who  has  not  signed  up  with  us, 
and  to  see  that  we  get  our  part  at  the  time  of  the  cleanups. 
You  would  be  surprised  to  see  what  a  big  income  fifteen  or 
twenty  of  those  running  at  once  makes  us,"  said  Lew,  feel 
ing  very  satisfied  with  his  scheme. 

"I  know  all  about  it,  Lew.  I  was  here  in  the  balmy  days 
of  hydraulic  mining,  snd  I  saw  a  good  many  of  the  big  ones 
rnnHrp-,"  ??H  the  old  man. 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 465 

"Yes,  those  were  prosperous  times,  too,  but  I  wish  you 
could  get  up  to  the  old  mines  again  and  see  the  change  that 
has  taken  place  there.  They  are  operated  now  on  a  much 
larger  scale  than  formerly.  Giants  are  working  everywhere, 
and  they  are  going  to  far  exceed  the  calculations  we  made 
on  them.  I  mean  there  is  much  more  gold  in  them  than  we 
figured  on.  Our  figures  were  only  estimates  and  they  were 
on  the  safe  side,  you  know." 

"Yes,  that  was  the  instruction  of  the  Government.  The 
object  was  to  discourage  that  kind  of  mining,  as  the  law  in 
those  days  was  against  it,"  said  the  surveyor. 

"Well,  here  we  come  into  Sproulville,"  interrupted  Henry 
Manning,  who  had  kept  quiet  for  some  time  listening  to  their 
chatter  as  Lew  told  the  old  surveyor  all  about  his  work.  Lew 
was  proud  of  it,  for  it  was  his  own  scheme.  He  had  originated 
it  and  had  made  it  a  success. 

"I  suppose  we  will  see  the  boss  of  this  town  in  his  office 
on  the  corner,  as  usual?"  asked  Manning  of  his  son. 

"Drive  up  there  and  we'll  see,"  said  Lew.  "I  want  Mr. 
Roe  to  meet  him,"  chuckling  as  he  said  it. 

The  bank,  which  stood  on  a  prominent  corner  of  the  town, 
had  a  fine  front  room  off  the  main  banking  room.  This  was 
Mr.  Sprouls'  office.  It  had  glass  on  every  side  so  he  could 
see  what  was  going  on  in  every  direction,  and  was  handsome 
ly  furnished  in  mahogany.  He  did  not  do  much  actual  busi 
ness  except  to  talk  and  boost  Sproulville  and  "his"  various 
enterprises.  Whenever  strangers  came  to  town,  he  was 
always  the  first  to  meet  them  and  give  them  all  the  news  of 
the  late  developments.  Seeing  Henry  Manning  and  Lew  drive 
up  with  a  stranger,  he  at  once  dropped  everything  and  went 
out  to  meet  them. 

"Mr.  Sprouls,  let  me  introduce  you  to  my  old  friend  and 
benefactor,  Mr.  Roe.  He  was  employed  by  the  Government 
for  a  number  of  years  as  a  surveyor,  and  I  assisted  him  in  sur 
veying  all  this  land,  the  gravel  mines,  also.  He  is  the  one 
who  started  me  in  this  line  of  business.  He  is  retired  now, 
on  account  of  his  age,  and  lives  in  Philadelphia,  but  has  come 


466 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

all  the  way  out  here  to  see  me  and  this  work  that  I  am  doing. 
I  wanted  him  to  see  what  you  are  doing,  too,  Mr.  Sprouls,  and 
to  show  him  that  old  Missouri  can  turn  out  men  who  can  do 
things  about  right,"  at  the  same  time  winking  at  the  surveyor. 

"Sure,  Mr.  Roe.  I'd  have  felt  very  bad  if  you'd  passed  me 
by.  This  town  is  the  best  thing  of  it  all.  Any  one  comin' 
to  see  these  here  works  and  don't  come  to  see  Sproulville 
hain't  seed  it  at  all.  Hain't  that  right,  Hank  ?" 

"Certainly,  Sprouls,"  said  Manning.  "We'll  put  the  team 
up  here,  John,  and  feed  and  water  them.  While  Lew  and  I 
are  doing  that,  you  show  Mr.  Roe  around  a  little." 
.  "Yes,  sir,"  said  Sprouls,  "with  pleasure,  if  he  is  a  friend 
o'  yourn.  By  jabbers,  Mr.  Roe,  you  look  like  you  might  be 
from  old  Missouri,  yerself." 

:  "I  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Sprouls,"  said  the  sur 
veyor,  greatly  amused. 

"Bet  yer  life,  I  kin  tell  it  every  time,"  replied  Sprouls, 
laughing. 

"You  have  a  good  town  here  and  have  done  a  great  work, 
I  am  told,"  said  the  surveyor,  turning  the  subject  from  him 
self,  for  he  knew  they  would  have  but  a  short  time  to  stay 
here  before  they  went  to  lunch. 

:  "Yes,  sir,  this  is  the  best  town  on  the  coast,"  said  Sprouls, 
proudly.  "I  built  it  myself  and  I'm  mayor  of  the  town,  so  I 
run  it.  If  I  didn't  it  would  go  to  pieces  mighty  quick.  This 
is  my  bank  here  and  I  have  an  interest  in  that  big  hotel  there, 
and  the  drygoods  store,  and  that  hardware  store  there,  and 
the  shoe  store  yonder,"  pointing  out  every  one  as  he  talked ; 
"in  fact,  I  don't  let  nothin'  come  in  here  unless  I  do  get  an  in 
terest  in  it,  then  I  know  what  is  goin'  on.  That  big  buildin' 
goin'  up  over  there  is  my  opery  house. 

"I  don't  'spect  you  know  nothin'  about  it,  but  while  Lew 
Manning  gets  the  credit  for  buildin'  this  big  ditch  and  startin' 
this  company,  yet  if  it  hadn't  been  fur  me  he  would  never  'a 
been  here  today.  Hum,  I  knowed  that  boy  when  he  couldn't 
tell  beans  when  the  bag  was  open.  Shucks,  the  Indians  would 
'a  had  his  scalp  on  their  belts  when  we  come  out  if  it  hadn't 


HOW  THE  PLAN  WORKED 46T 

'a  been  fur  me.  He'd  never  'a  been  able  to  build  this  ditch, 
either,  if  it  hadn't  'a  been  fur  me.  I  tolcl  him  how  to  do  all 
this  work.  I  had  hard  work  gettin'  him  to  pipe  off  that  hill., 
but  he  did  finally,  and  they  found  all  that  shale  under  it.  Now 
we're  goin'  to  build  our  cement  plant  thar.  They  think  and 
talk  a  lot,  but  there  would  be  mighty  little  done  if  I  didn't  tell 
'em  how  to  do  it. 

"Why,  they  couldn't  make  a  town  here  till  I  took  hold 
of  it.  I  sold  all  these  lots  and  made  the  company  most  of 
the  money  it  has.  Of  course,  I  have  a  big  interest  in  every 
thing  here  except  the  homes  of  the  people  and  some  o'  them 
store  buildin's.  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Roe,  I'd  jist  like  to  have  some 
o'  them  old  Missouri  people  see  me  now." 

Mr.  Roe  turned  his  head  so  Sprouls  could  not  see  the 
smile  he  could  not  keep  from  his  face. 

"I  tell  ye,  this  here  power  plant  couldn't  run  a  day  with 
out  me  here  to  keep  things  in  order,  and  I  'spect  it'll  all  fall 
on  me  to  run  that  cement  plant  as  soon  as  it's  done." 

"Yes,  Mr.  Manning  has  just  told  me  what  a  great  work 
you  have  done  here,  and  I  am  proud  that  such  a  great  man 
comes  from  my  native  state,"  said  Mr.  Roe,  who  had  heeded 
the  warning  Lew  had  given  him  and  had  believed  just  as  much 
as  he  wanted  to  of  this  story. 

"Well,  now,  Mr.  Roe,  the  men  have  got  the  team  put 
up  and  we'll  go  across  to  the  hotel  and  have  a  bite  to  eat," 
said  Sprouls,  much  pleased  at  Roe's  praise.  They  walked 
across  the  street  to  the  new  hotel  which  had  recently  been 
put  up  and,  stepping  inside,  he  called  to  the  landlord : 

"Say,  give  these  three  men  the  best  you  kin  put  up. 
They're  friends  o'  mine  from  Missouri.  This  here  is  Lew 
Manning,  what  is  building  the  big  ditches  with  my  help  and 
this  here  cement  plant.  This  is  his  father,  Henry  Manning, 
and  this  here  man  is  Mr.  Roe,  the  old  U.  S.  Government  sur 
veyor  what  surveyed  all  of  this  country  years  ago.  He  heard 
what  I  was  doin'  here  and  come  all  the  way  from  Philadel 
phia  to  see  Sproulville." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Sprouls.  I'll  take  care  of  them,"  replied  the 
landlord,  and  Lew  winked  at  Mr.  Roe. 


468 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Another  team  had  just  driven  up  on  the  main  street  out 
side,  and  Mr.  Sprouls  hurried  out  to  see  who  it  was.  In  a 
short  time  the  landlord  called  the  three  in  to  dinner,  and,  as 
it  was  too  late  in  the  day  when  they  had  finished  to  make  the 
trip  back  that  night,  they  decided  to  put  up  there  for  the 
night. 

That  evening,  as  they  sat  in  their  room  at  the  hotel,  Mr. 
Roe  said  to  the  Mannings : 

"I  have  been  giving  close  attention  to  everything  you  have 
said  about  what  has  been  accomplished,  and  I  want  to  con 
gratulate  you  upon  your  success  in  this  undertaking.  I  must 
confess  that  while  I  was  sure  the  scheme  was  practical  when 
the  boy  first  spoke  of  it  to  me,  yet  I  was  doubtful  as  to  his 
ever  being  able  to  accomplish  it.  I  rendered  what  advice  and 
assistance  I  could,  but  it  was  so  small  that  it  is  not  worth 
mentioning,  for  he  was  head  and  shoulders  above  me  in  his 
plan  and  his  determination  to  put  it  through. 

"Then  my  health  failed  and  I  had  to  leave,  but  I  have 
heard  so  much  about  it  that  I  have  come  all  the  way  across 
the  continent  to  see  it.  Now  that  I  am  here,  I  must  admit 
that  it  is  more  of  a  success  in  every  way  than  I  ever  expected 
it  would  be.  I  have  seen  many  big  things  tried  in  my  time, 
but  I  want  to  say,  without  flattery,  that  I  don't  think  you 
could  have  gotten  a  better  crowd  of  men  together  than  the 
ones  who  have  put  this  through  successfully. 

"I  must  take  off  my  hat  to  this  young  man.  I  wouldn't 
have  dared  to  have  undertaken  it  myself.  I  shall  go  home 
satisfied,  for  it  was  worth  coming  to  see." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
THE  FORTUNE  WON  AT  LAST 

The  week  spent  at  the  Manning  residence  in  the  coun 
try  was  one  of  great  pleasure  both  to  James  and  Mrs.  Randall. 
They  were  just  like  birds  out  of  a  cage,  for  it  was  the  first 
time  in  their  lives  that  they  had  taken  a  vacation  for  pleasure. 
They  had  always  had  to  work  and  improve  every  possible 
moment  to  make  ends  meet  and  supply  the  necessities  of  life. 
But  now  money  had  no  claim  on  their  time.  They  were  at 
liberty  to  take  this  week  off  and  just  enjoy  themselves. 

Mr.  Manning  had  ordered  a  horse  and  buggy  kept  for 
their  use  to  drive  about  in  and  see  the  country  at  their  own 
leisure,  which  they  certainly  used.  They  visited  the  big 
ditch,  saw  the  cement  plant  working  and  the  cement  being 
made  for  the  building  of  the  great  waterway.  They  visited 
the  saw  mill  where  the  mighty  mountain  pines  were  being  cut 
up  into  lumber.  They  were  supplied  with  all  kinds  of  fruits 
from  the  farm  and  had  the  best  of  care  and  the  choicest 
rooms  that  Henry  Manning's  fine  residence  could  offer.  It 
was  more  like  a  mansion  than  a  country  home. 

The  week  was  soon  gone  and  they  were  sorry  when  the 
time  was  up  and  they  must  return,  for  the  children  at  home 
would  be  needing  them.  Besides,  Myrtle  was  to  come  out  in 
a  week  and  Mr.  Manning  had  promised  to  take  her  out  with 
him  when  he  came  in  with  the  Randalls. 

Young  Robert  Manning  had  returned  from  school  and 
was  also  at  home  for  the  summer  vacation.  He  was  a  fine 
specimen  of  manhood  and  possessed  a  good  physique,  for  he 
stood  almost  six  feet  tall.  He  had  dark  hair,  brown  eyes, 
and  an  air  of  chivalry  and  politeness  that  made  him  uni 
versally  liked.  He  was  somewhat  religiously  inclined,  but 
very  jolly.  Never  having  had  to  work  very  much,  he  took 
great  delight  in  games  and  sports  of  various  kinds.  James 
Randall  found  him  a  very  congenial  companion.  It  was 

469 


470 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

really  the  first  time  he  had  ever  gotten  acquainted  with  him, 
for,  although  they  had  gone  to  the  same  university,  still  they 
were  in  different  classes  and  only  saw  each  other  occasionally. 

In  build  and  character  and?  in  fact,  almost  every  way, 
James  and  Robert  had  similar  tastes.  Usually  what  pleased 
one  pleased  the  other,  and  before  the  week  was  gone  James 
expressed  many  regrets  that  he  had  not  known  him  better 
while  they  were  in  school. 

Young  Randall  had  also  met  Fern  Manning  and  had  been 
charmed  with  her  beauty  and  childlike  ways.  Although  he 
had  met  her,  he  was  not  permitted  to  see  much  of  her,  for 
she  was  yet  under  the  care  of  a  nurse.  He  did  not  know  of 
her  trouble,  but  had  been  told  that  she  had  had  a  fall  and 
injured  her  head,  but  that  she  would  soon  recover  her  health 
again. 

On  Sunday  James  preached  in  the  little  church  on  the 
Manning  ranch,  and  they  were  all  delighted  with  his  per 
sonality,  his  earnestness  and  oratory. 

When  the  day  came  for  James  and  his  mother  to  return 
to  the  city,  Henry  Manning  was  called  out  to  the  works  upon 
some  very  important  business,  so  he  asked  Robert  to  take  them 
to  the  city  and  bring  Myrtle  back.  In  his  kind  and  pleasant 
way,  Robert  gladly  agreed  to  do  so. 

Mrs.  Randall  and  James  thanked  them  for  their  many 
kindnesses  and  for  the  pleasure  they  had  had  during  the  week, 
and  they  were  about  to  leave  when  Mrs.  Manning  handed 
James  a  religious  tract,  which  she  had  read  with  much  pleas 
ure  and  interest  and  wanted  him  to  read.  As  he  put  it  in  his 
pocket  he  felt  a  large  envelope  and,  pulling  it  out,  he  found 
the  letter  which  Lew  had  given  him  a  week  ago,  with  the 
request  that  he  not  open  it  until  he  got  home.  Without  think 
ing,  he  exclaimed  so  they  all  heard  him: 

"Bless  my  soul,  if  there  isn't  that  letter  which  Lew 
gave  me  a  week  ago  and  asked  me  not  to  open  till  I  got 
home.  Here  I  have  forgotten  it  until  now." 

Mr.  Manning  had  told  his  wife  about  the  letter  and  she 
had  wondered  why  James  had  never  said  anything  about  it. 
Understanding  it  all,  she  said: 


THE  FORTUNE  WON  AT  LAST 471 

"As  you  are  just  on  your  way  home,  why  not  wait  till 
you  get  there  to  open  it,  as  it  was  his  request?" 

"I  guess  you're  right,  Mrs.  Manning,"  said  James,  and  he 
put  the  letter  back  in  his  pocket  again. 

A  few  hours'  drive  brought  them  to  the  capital  city  once 
more,  and  when  they  were  safely  at  home  Mrs.  Randall  re 
minded  James  of  his  letter,  for  it  had  worried  her  every  step 
of  the  way  in.  She  could  not  understand  why  Lew  should 
make  such  a  queer  request,  and  she  was  anxious  to  know  what 
was  in  it. 

James  took  the  letter  from  his  pocket,  broke  the  seal, 
pulled  out  the  larger  paper,  and  read: 

"DEAR  JIM  : — I  am  very  sorry  indeed  that  you  have  been 
humiliated  so.  It  was  all  my  fault  for  not  telling  Jack  Winters 
after  my  talk  with  you  that  you  were  not  guilty  of  coming 
between  Myrtle  and  me.  I  should  have  made  it  clear  to  him, 
but  in  my  haste  to  get  away  I  did  not  do  it,  and  you  had  to 
suffer  for  my  blunder.  I  am  willing  to  make  it  right  with  you 
and  am  going  to  do  so  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  Herewith 
I  enclose  you  the  necessary  salve  to  rub  on  the  wound.  Please 
accept  it  without  any  'ifs'  and  'ands,'  or  you  will  offend  me. 
I  have  made  plenty  of  money  in  my  business  and  will  never 
miss  it.  You  are  a  professional  man  and  can  never  expect 
to  make  more  than  a  mere  living,  so  take  it  and  say  nothing. 

"The  way  things  have  turned  out  lately,  I  am  ready  to 
say  that  I  would  gladly  exchange  places  with  you.  I  have 
made  a  fortune  in  my  business — yes,  several  fortunes — but 
I  have  lost  the  one  fortune  that  I  had  always  hoped  to  win. 
I  am  convinced  that  she  would  be  yours  for  the  asking  and 
both  she  and  you  would  be  very  happy.  With  me  it  would 
be  different.  I  allowed  myself  to  grow  cold  and  to  grow 
away  from  her  by  giving  all  my  time  and  attention  to  my 
business  affairs.  Her  affection  for  me  is  gone  and  she  would 
never  be  happy  as  my  bride.  She  offered  to  marry  me  to 
please  her  father,  but  admitted  that  it  would  be  without 
affection,  so  I  declined.  The  field  is  now  open,  if  you  want 
to  enter  it,  and  there  shall  never  be  any  hard  feelings  about 
it  on  my  part. 

"I  have  lost  her,  and  it  is  my  own  fault,  but  I  want  her  to 


472 WINNING  A  FORTUNE  

be  happy,  and  I  think  that  she  could  be  with  you.  Don't 
blame  Jack  Winters.  He  is  a  good  man  and  did  what  he 
thought  was  right,  from  what  I  had  intimated. 

"I  will  close  with  the  best  wishes  for  your  happiness 
and  success  as  well  as  hers. 

"Yours  very  truly, 

"LEW  MANNING." 

When  James  had  finished  reading  the  letter,  he  was  so 
surprised  that  he  really  forgot  to  look  in  the  envelope  for  the 
"salve."  After  meditating  for  a  moment,  he  handed  the  let 
ter  to  his  mother  to  read. 

"What  was  in  that  letter  besides  this,  that  he  calls  'salve'  ?" 
she  asked,  after  reading  the  letter. 

James  looked  in  the  envelope  and  took  out  a  check  for 
ten  thousand  dollars,  made  payable  to  him  and  signed  by  Lew 
Manning. 

"Great  Heavens,  mother!"  he  exclaimed  in  astonishment, 
"here  is  another  ten  thousand  dollars.  What  do  you  know 
about  that?" 

"Well,"  said  his  mother,  when  she  had  gotten  her  breath, 
"now  that  we  have  the  other  check,  perhaps  we  had  better 
return  this  one,  Jim." 

"But,  mother,  he  says  he  will  be  offended  unless  I  accept 
it." 

"Oh,  well,  then,"  she  replied,  smiling,  "I  guess  we  can 
stand  to  keep  it.  It  wouldn't  do  to  offend  him  when  he  is 
so  kind." 

"It  would  surely  be  a  shame  to  offend  any  one  over  a 
thing  like  that,"  said  James.  Then  they  both  laughed  like 
tickled  children  over  the  check. 

"But,  Jim,  you  get  the  girl,  too,  don't  you?"  she  said  de 
lightedly. 

"No,  mother,  that  is  just  as  much  out  of  the  question  with 
me  as  it  was  with  Lew." 

"Why  ?    Don't  you  think  she  loves  you  ?" 

"Yes,  and  I  just  worship  the  ground  she  walks  on;  but, 
mother,  the  Mannings  are  our  friends,  and  if  I  married  the 


THE  FORTUNE  WON  AT  LAST 473 

girl  that  Lew  wanted  and  could  not  get  they  would  always 
hate  us  for  it.  I  would  not  offend  them  for  the  world.  I'll 
write  a  reply  to  this  letter  and  let  you  read  it." 

"Be  careful  what  you  do,  Jim.  I  know  you  wouldn't  do 
anything  that  you  didn't  think  was  right,  but  I  mean  don't 
act  too  hastily.  Myrtle  is  a  mighty  fine  girl  and  would  be 
a  great  help  to  you  in  your  work  with  her  fine  education  and 
splendid  musical  ability,"  replied  his  proud  mother,  wistfully. 

"I  know  all  that,  mother,  but  manliness  and  a  good  name 
are  great  things  in  this  world,"  and  he  picked  up  his  pen  and 
wrote  as  follows: 

"DEAR  LEW  : — I  will  be  honest  with  you  and  tell  you  that 
I  put  your  letter  in  my  pocket  and  hurried  out  to  your  home 
with  your  father  for  a  week's  rest,  taking  mother  along.  I 
never  opened  it  until  I  got  back  home,  as  you  had  told  me 
that  was  the  place  where  I  should  open  it,  so  I  am  very  tardy 
with  my  reply. 

"It  is  a  wonderful  'salve/  as  you  call  it,  that  you  have 
given  me,  for  which  I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart, 
but  I  still  feel  that  I  should  return  it.  However,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  you  would  be  offended,  I  accept  it.  I  want  to 
assure  you  again  that  it  is  greatly  appreciated  by  me,  and 
always  will  be.  I  don't  place  any  blame  upon  you  or  anyone 
else  for  what  has  happened.  There  was  a  mistake  and  I  know 
it.  It  is  all  settled  now  and  will  never  be  brought  up  again. 

"As  to  Myrtle,  Lew,  I  admit  that  I  adore  her,  as  I  know 
you  do.  We  went  to  school  upon  equal  honors  and  you  made 
it  possible  to  continue  that  way  in  the  contest  at  the  university. 
I  shall  make  it  my  business  to  see  that  the  honors  continue 
equal  in  this  case.  If  you  can't  have  the  girl  when  you  want 
her,  and  were  entitled  to  first  claim  upon  her,  neither  can  I 
take  her.  I  am  too  much  of  a  man  for  that.  Should  I  do 
a  thing  like  that,  you  would  forever  after  despise  me, 
and  I  would  despise  myself  as  well.  I  am  your  friend  now, 
and  we  will  stay  that  way. 

"You  have  won  a  great  fortune  and  a  name  that  will  live 
through  the  ages  in  your  great  work.  I  have  a  fortune  in 
the  two  checks  which  have  come  to  me  in  my  troubles.  We 
can  both  go  out  and  battle  with  the  world  now,  and  I  will 


474 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

look  elsewhere  for  a  companion.     In  the  meantime,  you  may 
yet  be  able  to  win  Myrtle  for  your  own. 

"I  promise  you  that  I  will  never  put  anything  in  your  way. 
I  am  confident  that  I  could  have  taken  her  from  you  for  the 
asking  long  ago,  and  had  I  followed  my  selfish  impulse  I 
would  have  done  so,  but  I  have  put  my  trust  in  Him  who 
taught  us  to  'do  unto  others  as  we  would  have  them  do  unto 
us/  I  leave  it  to  you  to  say  whether  I  have  done  so  or  not 
in  this  case. 

"Yours  for  a  continuation  of  our  friendship. 

"JAMES  RANDALL." 

Thus  the  struggle  between  the  two  boys  for  the  hand 
and  heart  of  the  girl  they  both  loved  was  no  nearer  settle 
ment  than  it  had  been  before,  but  was  really  at  a  standstill. 

It  was  another  proof  that  men  who  are  truly  great  do  not 
stoop  to  selfish  things.  Either  of  these  men  could  have  mar 
ried  the  girl,  the  one  when  he  had  the  offer  to  please  her 
father,  but  would  not  because  he  felt  that  she  would  not  be 
happy  under  the  circumstances.  The  other  upon  his  merits 
and  upon  love,  but  he  refused,  for  he  felt  that  he  was  in  honor 

bound  to  his  benefactors  and  his  God  not  to  do  so. 

******** 

Robert  Manning  drove  up  to  the  Winters  mansion  and  was 
received  kindly,  for  Myrtle  had  been  planning  for  three  days 
to  make  the  trip,  and  was  glad  when  the  team  called  for  her. 
She  was  not  going  because  things  were  unpleasant  at  her 
home,  for  they  were  not.  If  anything,  they  were  more  con 
genial  than  before,  for  her  father  had  apologized  to  her  and 
told  her  that  she  should  marry  any  one  she  pleased  and  it 
would  be  all  right  with  him,  for  he  would  never  interfere  again 
with  her  happiness. 

She  had  been  promised  the  trip  and  was  anxiously  await 
ing  the  day,  for  she  always  enjoyed  a  visit  to  the  Manning 
home.  Her  wounds  and  bruises  were  not  serious  and  in  a  few 
days  she  was  as  well  as  ever. 

When  Robert  came,  he  said  to  Mrs.  Winters: 

"I  came  for  your  girl.  I  presume  you  will  not  object  to 
my  taking  her  if  I  ask  for  her,  will  you?"  and  Mrs.  Winters 
laughed  heartily. 


THE  FORTUNE  WON  AT  LAST 475 

Myrtle,  who  was  in  the  next  room  and  had  heard  it 
through  the  partly  opened  door,  spoke  up  and  said  in  a  joking 
way : 

"Sure,  I'll  go  with  you,  Robert.  The  rest  of  them  have 
all  gone  back  on  me,  but  I  know  you  won't,  will  you?" 

"Well,  now  you're  talking.  You  never  knew  me  to  go 
back  on  any  one,  did  you  ?"  he  asked,  hoping  that  she  meant  it. 

"Nope,  you're  all  right,  Robert,  but  where  is  your  father? 
He  said  he  was  coming  in." 

"Oh,  he  was  called  up  to  the  works  upon  some  important 
business  and  so  he  could  not  come,  but  I  guess  you  won't 
object  to  riding  out  with  me,  will  you,  Myrtle?" 

"I  should  say  not,  Robert.  We  got  along  fine  together 
when  we  were  kids  and  we  ought  to  have  improved  some  by 
this  time,"  said  Myrtle,  half  in  earnest,  for  she  had  always 
liked  him. 

"All  right,  Myrtle,  get  your  'drygoods'  on  and  we'll  elope — 
oh,  I  mean  we'll  be  going — for  it  is  a  long  drive  and  night 
will  be  here  if  we  don't  get  started  soon,"  and  the  women 
both  laughed  at  his  wit  and  joke. 

In  a  few  moments  the  two  young  people  were  seated  in 
the  carriage  behind  Henry  Manning's  team  of  black  driving 
horses,  as  good  a  team  as  could  be  found  in  that  part  of  the 
state.  The  road  was  not  new  to  Myrtle,  for  she  had  driven 
over  it  a  week  before,  but  on  a  different  mission  and  with  a 
different  feeling  in  her  heart.  They  would  not  go  by  the 
place  where  Lew  was,  but  would  continue  on  the  main  road 
straight  through  to  the  Manning  ranch. 

"Say,  Myrtle,  did  you  mean  what  you  said  about  all  the 
other  boys  going  back  on  you  and  asking  me  if  I  would,  too?" 
asked  Robert,  as  he  pulled  her  a  little  closer  to  him  in  the 
buggy  seat. 

"Of  course  I  meant  it,"  she  replied,  quickly,  with  a  grin. 

"All  right,  then,  Myrtle.  I'll  tell  you  something  if  you 
want  me  to." 

"Say  it.  I  can  stand  anything  these  times,"  she  said,  won 
dering  what  he  was  going  to  say,  while  her  cheeks  began  to 
burn. 


476 WINNING  A  FORTUNE 

Robert  stopped  the  horses  preparatory  to  what  he  had  to 
say. 

"Well,  you  know  what  has  been  taking  place  lately  and 
so  do  I.  Now  let's  compromise  that  matter  by  you  dropping 
both  of  those  fellows  and  being  good  friends  with  me  for  a 
time.  What  do  you  say?" 

"Haven't  we  always  been  good  friends,  Robert?"  was  her 
reply,  pretending  innocence.  She  was  pleased,  but  did  not 
want  to  seem  anxious. 

"Yes,  but  let's  be  more  than  friends,  let's  be — sweet 
hearts,"  he  faltered. 

Myrtle  did  not  speak,  but  she  smiled,  blushing,  while  a 
great  love  for  the  handsome  boy  beside  her  seemed  suddenly 
born  in  her  heart. 

"Do  you  want  to  be  that,  little  girlie?"  he  insisted. 

Myrtle  was  too  happy  and  surprised  to  say  anything,  but 
a  sudden  impulse  seized  her  which  caused  her  to  fling  her 
arms  about  his  neck,  while  she  buried  her  head  on  his  great 
chest.  His  arms  closed  about  her,  and  for  a  space  of  a  minute 
they  forgot  everything  except  that  they  loved  each  other  and 
that,  after  all,  nothing  else  mattered. 

Then  Robert  whispered  softly  in  her  ear,  "Let's  make  it 
a  bond  between  us  that  shall  never  be  broken  either  in  this 
life  or  the  life  to  come." 

His  lips  sought  hers  and  the  one  great  seal  was  placed 
upon  their  compact  which  united  them  for  all  time  to  come. 


Two  YEARS  LATER 

Robert  Manning,  having  finished  his  post-graduate  work 
at  Harvard,  had  returned  to  Sacramento,  where  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar  to  practice  law.  He  formed  a  partnership 
with  Jack  Winters  in  the  law  firm  afterwards  known  as  "Win 
ters  and  Manning." 

But  the  happiest  feature  of  it  all  was  that  Robert's  and 
Myrtle's  love  had  ripened  into  a  greater  love  during  the  two 


THE  FORTUNE  WON  AT  LAST 477 

years,  and  they  were  now  the  happiest  married  couple  in  the 
state,  for  there  had  never  been  a  ripple  or  an  unkind  word 
to  mar  their  happiness.  They  seemed  perfectly  matched  in 
temperament  and  dispositions,  with  the  same  likes  and  dislikes. 
Myrtle  declared  that  she  had  never  been  in  love  before  with 
any  one,  and  that  it  was  almost  a  case  of  love  at  first  sight. 

The  wishes  of  Jack  Winters  that  he  might  become  closer 
related  to  the  Mannings  had  come  true,  but  not  exactly  as 
he  had  expected.  The  wishes  of  Henry  Manning  and  his  wife, 
that  Myrtle  might  become  a  member  of  their  household,  had 
come  true,  not  as  they  had  first  hoped,  yet  in  an  entirely  satis 
factory  manner  to  both  families. 

Robert  laughed  at  them  all  and  said  that  when  it  came  to 
making  money,  any  man  could  win  a  fortune,  but  that  none 
of  them  could  win  his  girl's  love,  which  he  declared  was  the 
greatest  fortune  of  all,  and  that  God  had  helped  him  to  be  the 
lucky  man  who  had  won  the  fortune  so  coveted  by  others. 


NOTE:  The  Sequel  of  this  story,  "Breaking  the  Seal,"  is  now  nearing 
completion.  Read  a  brief  advance  announcement  on  the  back  of  the 
jacket  of  this  book. 


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